SSGC edge K-Electric with late strikes

KARACHI: Late goals from substitutes Mohammad Lal and Mehmood Khan enabled Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to pull off their third win of the season as they defeated defending champions K-Electric 2-0 in Pakistan Premier Football League at Punjab Stadium, Lahore, on Sunday.

Lal opened the score for SSGC in the 88th minute. Mehmood doubled the lead in stoppage time. The win took SSGC to 12 points from seven outings. They trail at the sixth spot in the 15-team marathon whose final round will be held in Karachi.

“It was a good match,” SSGC coach Tariq Lutfi told ‘The News’ after his side’s dramatic win. “The team will get rhythm gradually. Today’s game was crucial. We played a different team in the first half by skipping Lal Mohammad and Mehmood Khan. We gave chance to Jadeed Khan, Tahir, Habib and rookie Jamali from Nawabshah. I told them to play tough game and in the first half it was indeed a gruelling fight and was a treat to watch,” said Tariq, a former Pakistan coach.

“In the final 35 minutes of the game I opted to send both Lal and Mehmood and they scored goals. It was a hard-fought game. K-Electric had a strong frontline. Both sides also missed two sure goals each,” Tariq said.“It’s a new team. If we are able to play a few more good matches in the Lahore round it will help us in the last round in Karachi,” said Tariq, also a former FIFA instructor.

K-Electric coach Hassan Baloch was shocked by the loss. “It was really a disappointing end to the match,” Hassan told this correspondent. “The two goals we conceded came in the dying moments. There was not much role of the scorers but our defenders let them do so. It hurt me a lot,” Hassan said.

“This (loss) has damaged our position. It was an even game and should have been ended in a draw but what happened is unfortunate,” the coach said. The loss left K-Electric at the third spot with 15 points from eight matches.