Meanwhile, while Karachi were handed a shock 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Faisalabad and Multan held PHF Academy for a draw in another unexpected result in Wednesday’s matches.

Hafiz Sardar opened the scoring for Lahore with a 15th-minute goal that sent Peshawar on the defensive. With their opponents’ backs against the wall, Lahore strung together impressive passes in the circle to break the Peshawar defence in the second half.

Six minutes into the second half, Peshawar conceded a penalty corner which was duly converted by Mohammad Fahid while Usman Aslam scored from another corner in the 57th minute to seal the win for Lahore.

In the day’s second match, an inspired Faisalabad performance gave them a 4-1 win over Karachi.

Karachi were off-colour in their opening match of the league, despite being one of the favourites for the title and their sluggish defence gave Faisalabad plenty of chances to score.

Fasaialbad’s first goal came in the 28th minute through Bilal Qadir and they ended the first half with a 1-0 lead.

Karachi’s lack of co-ordination meant Faisalabad enjoyed complete control of the match and struck three more goals via Mohammad Adnan (42nd minute) and Dilber Hussain (48th and 69th minutes).

Meanwhile, Multan shocked PHF Academy by denying them a victory against all expectations.

PHF Academy were the first to score as Zohaib Ashraf converted from a penalty corner in the eighth minute and appeared content with the lead.

After Faisal Qadir equalised for Multan 15 minutes from time, PHF Academy scampered for a winner but a few fumbles meant the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Thursday’s fixtures: Quetta vs Lahore (7.00am, Faisalabad vs PHF Academy (9.00am), Multan vs Peshawar (2.00pm), Sialkot vs Karachi (4.00pm)