Bashundhara Kings wrote new history on Friday as they became the first club of the country to win Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) for four seasons in succession.
The Bangladeshi giants registered a massive 6-4 goal victory over Sheikh Russel Kira Chakra to confirm the title with three matches to spare at the crowded Bashundhara Kings Arena of Bashundhara Sports Complex on this day.
Kings’ Brazilian forward Dorielton Gomes Nascimento scored the highest four goals while captain Robson Robinho and youngster Shekh Morsalin added one each.
Nigerian forward Kenneth Ikechukwu Ngwoke scored a brace while midfielders Dipok Roy and Sujon Biswas contributed one each for Sheikh Russel.
Kings clinched BPL titles in the seasons of 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22; except the season of 2019-20 which was abandoned by BFF amid COVID-19 outbreak.
Dhaka League -- which is the predecessor of BPL -- has been observing its 75th anniversary this year after its foundation in 1948 during the regime of Pakistan one year after the partition.
Only three clubs -- Dhaka Wanderers Club, Dhaka Abahani Limited and Mohammedan Sporting Club previously touched the milestone of winning the titles three times in a row.
Wanderers won the season of 1953, 1954 and 1956 while the season of 1955 was abandoned due to the flood, as per the archive of National Sports Council.
Both Abahani and Mohammedan achieved this feat after the Independence of Bangladesh. Abahani won the season of 1983, 1984 and 1985 and Mohammedan 1986, 1987 and 1988-89.
Before Friday's match, Kings were leading the 11-team BPL points table with 43 points from 16 matches, 10-point ahead of their nearest opponents Abahani Ltd who had 33 points from the same number of matches.
They now have 46 points from 17 matches with the day’s win and extended their points difference to 12 with Abahani who were held by Mohammedan Sporting Club by 1-1 in the day’s other match at the Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Stadium in Cumilla.
In the day’s third game, Chattogram Abahoni beat Azampur Football Club Uttara by 1-0 goal at the Rafiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh.
At Kings Arena, Dorielton earned an early lead for Kings with his smart finishers off a pass from Robson, but Sheikh Russel made a comeback with back-to-back goals from Sujon and Dipak within a span of twelve minutes.
Kings, who were determined to confirm the title on this day, regained the command of the game with Robson and Morsalin’s stunners in the extra time before the break.
Both teams were more offencive in the second half. Dorielton completed his first hat-trick of this season scoring three more goals and sealed the fate of the match for Kings at the mid of this half.
The Brazilian is currently dominating the scorers’ list with 18 goals after his four goals in this game.
On the other side, Kenneth, who earlier assisted Sujon, added a brace; but these goals did nothing for the former champions Sheikh Russel except to reduce the margin.
Kings will play three remaining matches against Mohammedan SC, Sheikh Jamal DC and Dhaka Abahani on June 3, July 7 and 14 respectively, but these results will not make any impact on the leaderboard.
BDST: 2121 HRS, MAY 26, 2023
MSK
