KARACHI, Nov. 7 (APP): PIA and Pakistan Navy notched-up victories in the Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) here on Saturday while KESC and NBP tie ended in a draw.
Airlines put up an impressive display in first session to outpace PAF 4-2 at Shadab Football Stadium. In the other match, Navy also
sealed three full points and regained third spot in table when they
earned exciting 3-2 win over HBL at Korangi Baloch Stadium, Sharafi
while KESC and NBP shared honors at DHA Stadium with a scoreless draw. Under superb strategy and game plan of Tariq Lutfi, PIA took off with two goals inside a minute. Arifwala born midfielder Nadeem Tariq went round keeper Khalid Khan to break the ice in the eighth minute and hardly fifty seconds minute had elapsed, Panjgur-born
Imran Hashmi doubled the lead. PAF, under captaincy of winger Muhammad
Jamil, pulled one back in the 19th minute when Toba Tek Singh-born
spearhead Muhammad Iqbal faked his way in for a dazzling goal, giving
keeper Bilal Rafiq stranded. Three minutes from interval PIA
restored two-goal advantage when winger Zeeshan Ali fired his seventh
goal of the show. PIA led 3-1 at interval. Little Imran Abdullah consolidated
PIA further with 64th minute goal while left full Muhammad Asif
hammered PAF second in the 79th minute as PIA recorded their eighth win
of the competition. The exhilarating Navy-HBL clash
provided five goals, two of them in final two minutes. The first half
ended at 1-1 with HBL winger Bilal Ahmed reducing Navy striker Asif
Bakhsh’s 11th minute goal in the 19th minute. Navy held upperhand in the second
session with winger Sajjad Ahmed making scoreline 2-1 in the 53rd
minute. Haripur Hazara-born Rizwan fired his first of the event in the
88th minute to stretch seamen lead to 3-1. The bankers went all out to change
the momentum of the game but they managed to hit only one through
defender Muhammad Habib in the final minute of the game. The seventh goalless draw of the
event went into PPFL record books when KESC and NBP were involved in a
match producing no goal in listless 90-minutes. There will be no match
on Sunday. The event will resume on Monday.
