Lal hits brace to sink Nushki’s Baloch FC

KARACHI: Star-studded Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) finally showed some grace on the field when they came from one goal down to overwhelm Nushki’s Baloch FC 3-1 thanks to Mohammad Lal’s fine brace in their match of the 12th Pakistan Premier Football League at Punjab Stadium Lahore on Tuesday.

Led by Pakistan’s skipper Saddam Hussain, SSGC went 0-1 down when Ali Khan broke the deadlock when he scored for Baloch FC in the 44th minute.But their jubilation for gaining a much-needed lead had not yet subsided when Habib-ur-Rehman landed an equaliser for the Karachi-based SSGC at the stroke of half time.

The second half belonged to Tariq Lutfi’s SSGC as they hit two more goals to finish with a graceful win in the end.Karachi’s Mohammad Lal scored in the 63rd and 76th minute to provide some hope to Tariq who had been searching for a better striker to score goals in the marathon.

SSGC coach Tariq Lutfi seemed happy with his team’s performance.“It’s a welcome win. You know we were facing problems in the frontline but today Lal hit two that helped us win the game,” Tariq told ‘The News’.However, he said that 4-0 could be a comfortable result, adding, his young striker Jamali, who he had sent in as a substitute, missed three chances.

“Jamali is an opportunist and normally does not miss a chance but today he squandered three,” the coach said.“It does not mean that we went all along with our senior stock. We changed today even international Mehmood Khan by bringing in Bilawal. So we also gave chances to rookies Jamali, Ubaid and Shaharyar,” said Tariq, also a former Pakistan coach.

The win propelled SSGC to seventh spot with nine points from six outings.Former champions Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) also stand at nine points but with a better goal-average than SSGC who recorded their second win of the season.

Meanwhile, the other outing of the day between Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Chaman’s Muslim FC ended in a goalless draw with either side taking one point each.SNGPL moved to eight points from seven matches. Muslim FC surged to 11th place with five points to their credit.