Bashundhara Kings maintained their place at the top of the Bangladesh Football League on Saturday, but it was far from comfortable as Arambagh Krira Sangha pushed them hard in a 2-1 defeat at Kings Arena — a very different contest from the 5-0 thrashing Kings handed the same opponents in the Federation Cup.
Kings dominated from the outset, taking the lead in the 24th minute through a well-worked move. Rakib Hossain drove forward down the right, cut into the box and pulled the ball back from just inside the byline for Brazilian forward Dorielton Gomes Nascimento, who finished with a precise placed shot. Dorielton leads the league’s scoring charts with 13 goals, six clear of Abahani’s Souleymane Diabate in second.
Kings doubled their advantage four minutes later. Dorielton’s diagonal cross found Emmanuel Sander, whose header bounced into the net before Arambagh goalkeeper Azad Hossain could react.
The second half told a different story. Arambagh grew into the match and felt aggrieved in the 55th minute when Kizito Kwame appeared to score, only for the assistant referee to disallow the goal, ruling that Kizito had received the ball with the lower part of his arm rather than the upper. Kizito protested vigorously, repeatedly gesturing that contact had been made with the upper arm, but the decision stood.
Arambagh pulled one back in the 63rd minute when Lantei-Mills evaded Emmanuel Tony and fired past Anisur Rahman Zico from a through ball, setting up a nervy finale. But Kings held firm to claim all three points.
After 12 rounds, Kings sit top with 27 points, three ahead of Fortis FC, who beat Police FC 2-0 in the day’s other match to move to 24 points. Abahani are third on 22. Arambagh, suffering their seventh defeat of the campaign, remain rooted to the bottom with nine points.
