Holders K-Electric pull off first win in PPFL

KARACHI: Defending champions K-Electric finally pulled off their first win when they edged Karachi Port Trust (KPT) 1-0 in their third round outing of the 12th Pakistan Premier Football League at the Qasim Bagh Stadium in Multan on Wednesday night.

After a barren but action-packed first half, international Mohammad Riaz hit the winner for K-Electric in the 48th minute.K-Electric, who won their first title in 2014-15 season after which the league could not be held for three years because of legal issues, missed several chances that came their way.K-Electric now have five points from three encounters.

K-Electric’s assistant coach Mohammad Essa was happy with his side’s win. “Before the match I told my boys that we are at number seven at the points table and we direly need a win. This motivated them and we got the desired result,” Essa told ‘The News’ from Multan on Thursday.

K-Electric team included Nigerian defender Wilson Segun. Wilson, who had a couple of successful stints with the Karachi-based side, had joined the team the other day. Nigerian striker Oludeyi Sunday was also expected to join K-Electric but he could not come because of an NOC issue with a club of Oman, which he has joined.

Sunday and Wilson played a key role in K-Electric’s maiden title victory three years ago.Essa said that they had also recruited Ali Khan and Nouman, who used to play for Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCCA). “Both are good players,” Essa said.

They represented Pakistan in the Asian Games in Indonesia this summer.In the other showdown of the night, former champions WAPDA overwhelmed Chaman’s Afghan FC 2-1 in a tight game.

Ahmed Faheem put WAPDA ahead in the very first minute. Hasnain Abbas added to the misery of Afghan FC, when he doubled WAPDA’s lead in the 50th minute.Mujeeb-ur-Rehman reduced Afghan FC’s deficit through a 66th-minute strike.

This was WAPDA’s first win in the season. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) are yet to join the league because of financial issues. The organisers have rescheduled their matches and the department has been asked to ensure its team’s presence in the Lahore round which will begin later this month at the Punjab Stadium.