KARACHI, April 9: Al-Shahbaz (Korangi) fought hard to record a narrow 1-0 win over their more accomplished rivals Irfan Memorial (Landhi) to bag three points in a Karachi United Football League’s (KUFL) Super League encounter at the Korangi Baloch Stadium here on Sunday evening.

The match was decided by a header from Al-Shahbaz’s veteran midfielder Abdul Rahman in the second half following a barren first half.

Irfan Memorial wasted a glorious chance to equalise when their striker Mohammad Zubair missed a last-minute golden opportunity by failing to send the ball into the vacant post.

The second half saw Al-Shahbaz putting Irfan Memorial under pressure by playing in a fluid 4-3-3 formation.

Abdul Rahman, despite his advancing years, combined well with wingers Fareed Alam, Noorul Ameen, Mohammad Noor and Owais Rehman to trouble Irfan Memorial’s defense with passes from the other midfielders Noor Alam and Mohammad Rafiq.

However, Irfan Memorial’s goalkeeper Kamran Khan proved to be a brick wall in front of their efforts.

Finally, Abdul Rahman scored in the 55th minute when he expertly headed in a Noorul Ameen cross to make Al-Shahbaz go 1-0 up.

The goal caused Irfan Memorial to go on an all-out attack but opposing goalie Manzoor Alam denied them all chances.

Still Irfan Memorial got a great opportunity in the 90th minute but Mohammad Zubair missed the empty post as the match finished 1-0 in favour of Al-Shahbaz.

Al-Shahbaz are on top of the points table with eight points while Irfan Memorial are at the bottom with one point after five games.

The match was supervised by referees Saeed Khan, Babar Khan and Mohammad Ishaq with H.M. Hanif as the match commissioner.