KARACHI: Islamabad and Malakand won their respective matches with contrasting results in Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) National Inter-City Football Championship 2019 underway simultaneously here at Dring Football Stadium and Multan’s Divisional Stadium.
In Bahawalpur, Islamabad recovered from a goal down to beat Gawadar by a 2-1 score. Gwadar to a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute following an impressive goal by Sikandar Baloch, who hit the ball into the nets from a distance of 30 yards. However, Hussain Khan leveled arrears for Islamabad in the 40th minute. Both the teams battled for supremacy throughout the remaining part of the match, except in the dying minutes, when Umar Saeed put Islamabad ahead in the 89th minute.
Meanwhile, Malakand thrashed Muzaffarabad recording a convincing 4-0 victory in Multan. Rizwan Ullah and Asim Ullah both shared the four goals equally between them for the winning side. Earlier, the opening match of the event between Karachi Green and Gilgit ended in a goalless draw in Bahawalpur. Shahzeb Saeed, Deputy Commissioner Bahawalpur was the chief guest during the opening ceremony.
The match between Jacobabad and Khyber teams in Multan also ended in a draw as both teams scored one goal each. Saifullah put Jacobabad ahead in the match with his goal in the 43rd minute. International striker Yaseen Mohammad leveled arrears for Khyber in the 59th-minute goal.