KARACHI, May 7: Burma Mohammadan (Korangi) booked a place in the ninth UBL Omni Karachi Football League final after edging past Kalri Star (Lyari) on penalties in the second semi-final at the Baloch Mujahid Stadium here the other day.
It was a rough match with referee Saeed Khan forced to hand out three yellow cards to each team besides suspending Burma Mohammadan’s frontrunner Saeed ur Rehman for getting his second yellow card.
Burma Mohammadan dominated the opening exchanges as Kalri Star’s defense was stretched out in the face of so many attacks.
But Burma Mohammadan had to wait till the 44th minute to score when winger Imran Shakoor’s 30-yard shot made its way past Kalri’s goalkeeper Hissam Baloch to make it 1-0.
But Kalri Star struck back immediately when a mix-up between Burma Mohammadan’s defence and goalkeeper Abdul Ghani allowed Mohammad bin Lal to equalise just before half time.
In the second half, Kalri Star attempted to dominate the game but Burma Mohammadan’s defence held firm as the score line was 1-1 after 90 minutes, forcing 30 minutes of extra time. But the score remained the same by the end, leading to a penalty shootout to decide the match.
Burma Mohammadan’s Anees Ahmed saw his penalty saved, but his team-mates M. Usman, Abdul Ghani, Imran Shakoor and Abdul Rehman managed to convert theirs.
Kalri Star’s Javed Ibrahim, Mohammad bin Lal and Aurangzeb scored from the spot but Asif Baloch struck the post and Mubashir Baloch’s kick was saved by Burma’s goalie Abdul Ghani to send Burma Mohammadan through to the final with a 4-3 win in the shootout.
