KPT edge MTC in penalty shootout to book spot in final

KARACHI: Asmatullah and Mohammad Tahir missed their penalties as Chaman’s Muslim Trading Company (MTC) faced a shock exit when they were beaten by Karachi Port Trust (KPT) 4-3 in penalty shootout in the second semi-final of the First Naya Nazimabad Quaid-e-Azam Departmental Football tournament here at the KMC Stadium on Friday.

KPT will now face Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in the final on Sunday (tomorrow).In front of a jam-packed stadium, KPT did the job on penalties after staging a stunning fightback in stoppage time.Asmat and Tahir missed fourth and fifth penalties respectively that downed the visitors who were touted as favourites.

Hikmatullah, Hayatullah and captain Abdul Qadeer converted their penalties for MTC. For KPT, Jalil missed the third penalty when his kick went off the target. Mohammad, Salal Raza, Junaid Ahmed and Arsalan hit from the spot for the hosts.

Earlier in the first half, Muslim Trading Company, a strong Premier League outfit, put KPT under pressure through incisive rallies from both wings.In the 15th minute, Shah Wali put Muslim Trading Company ahead through a nice effort. At half time, they were leading KPT 1-0.

In the second half, a gruelling fight was witnessed. Muslim Trading Company’s frontline missed a couple of easy chances after 85 minutes. And just before the final whistle, KPT brought parity when Mohammad Bin Younis struck in the crowded defence that pushed the show into a penalty shootout.

As KPT levelled the score, emotional crowd rushed onto the pitch that wasted a few minutes until match commissioner Shakoor Baloch and organising secretary Ahmed Jan requested them to go outside the field.

In the absence of grills, it’s easy for the fans to enter the pitch.Younis Lal supervised the match while Pervez Yousuf and Javed Ibrahim served as line judges.KPT head coach Fareed Majeed was happy with the achievement.

“We were lucky to win in penalty shootout after making a strong comeback,” Fareed told ‘The News’.“In the first half, we were facing problems as our side came under pressure after we went 0-1 down. In the second half, we marshalled our troops and boosted the attack that paid dividends in the end when Mohammad hit the equaliser just before the final whistle,” he added.

He said that their final against four-time former Premier League winners Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) would be interesting.“KRL are a strong side. We will try to play ground game and take an early initiative. I hope it would be a great match,” the former international said.

After the victory, KPT players celebrated the achievement in their changing room. KPT Sports Manager Col (retd) Baseer Alam was also present.Meanwhile, Muslim Trading Company coach Daud Khan said missed chances hurt them in the end.

“You saw that we missed several chances. In football, the team which misses chances always loses.” Daud said.“In penalty shootout, anything can happen. But I would admit that we had not done any such training on set-pieces,” he added.