KARACHI: Mohammad Rasool continued his prolific run and K-Electric’s momentum towards a maiden Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) title gathered further pace with a 1-0 victory over Pakistan Railways on Thursday.

Rasool’s league-leading 21st goal of the season here at the KPT Stadim helped K-Electric move to 41 points from 18 games, extending their lead at the top of the standings to five points over second-placed Pakistan Army with four games of the season left to play.

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) are third, a further two points adrift but K-Electric’s win all but ensured Khan Research Laboratories’ (KRL’s) three-year stranglehold on the title came to an end.

Tariq Lutfi’s outfit have endured a season of constant struggle and lie seventh with 26 points from 17 matches and can only mathematically clinch their fourth straight title if they win their last five games and the teams above them all lose their remaining matches.

The loss was Railways’ 11th defeat in 19 games and was a blow to their chances of surviving the drop as they lie second-from-bottom, above already-relegated Baloch FC Quetta, with 10 points.

They need to win their remaining three games and hope Afghan FC lose their last three matches to cover a seven-point deficit on them and avoid being demoted to the second-division Pakistan Football Federation League (PFFL).

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2015