Bashundhara Kings clinch Independence Cup football title

New powerhouse Bashundhara Kings clinched the title of the Independence Cup football beating Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra by 2-1 goals in the keenly contested final on Wednesday at country’s premier venue Bangabandhu National Stadium.

It was the first occasion, Bashundhara Kings won the maiden title of the Independence Cup after a shocking defeat to Abahani in the Federation Cup final this season, reports BSS.

In the day’s final, Brazilian forward Marcos Vinicius put Bashundhara ahead in the 17th minute with his solo effort. Following a counter attack, Marcos ran down with ball and dodged past a Sheikh Russle’s defender and took a powerful shot to send the ball home giving no chance to Sheikh Russel custodian Ashraful Islam Rana.

After conceding a goal, Sheikh Russel desperately tried to come back in the match. They got a scoring chance in the 28th minute but striker Raphael Odoyin failed to push the ball home despite standing at the vantage position.

Bashundhara Kings custodian Ziko deprived Sheikh Russel from a goal in the 29th minute as he brilliantly gripped an attempt taken by Rafael after driving his right.

Ziko again foiled another Sheikh Russel player’s attempt as he fisted Yamin Ahmed Munna’s powerful shot taken from the top of the box in the 43rd minute.

Sheikh Russel finally was able to restore the parity in the 45th minute when striker Alex Rafael’s powerful shot found the net giving no chance to Bashundhara Kings custodian Ziko.

After the lemon break, both the teams’ launched several attacks to take lead but failed to extend the lead that triggered the match to extra time.

Substitute player Motin Mia sealed the victory for Bashundhara Kings scoring the second goal in the 5th minute of the extra time.

In the day’s match, Sheikh Russel KC had several scoring chances, especially in the first half of the match, but they failed to take lead due to lack of proper finishing while Bashundhara made the best use of their chances they got during the match and notched their deserving victory.

Earlier, Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra moved to the final in the tournament beating Brothers Union Club by 2-0 gals in the first semi-final while Bashundhara Kings booked the place of final as they beat Abahani Limited by 7-6 goals in a sudden death session of the tie-breaker at the Bangabandhu National Stadium here on Thursday.