Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) produced their first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) while a Zafar Majeed hat-trick helped Karachi Port Trust (KPT) thump National Bank 4-2 in matches of the Pakistan Premier Football League here on Saturday.
Here at the Peoples Sports Complex, KESC and PIA produced a thrilling game with both sides looking for a win. But it ws PIA who took the lead when a cross from Abdul Ghaffar reached Hasnain Abbas who struck a fine goal on the stroke half-time.
The second-half saw both sides going for the win but PIA’s veteran goalkeeper Abu Bakar averted a couple of forceful rallies from KESC.
PIA manager Tariq Lutfi lauded the effort of his side. “Our team produced a good win in spite of the fact that it was completely short of training. But still we missed few good chances,” he said.
Meanwhile, here at the Korangi Baloch Football Ground, KPT edged out National Bank 4-2 to move to second place with nine points behind leaders WAPDA who have ten.
National Bank took the lead when Imran landed a fine goal in the 28th. But KPT starlet Zafar Majeed had other ideas as he scored two goals in a space of just six minutes (39th and 45th) to give KPT a 2-1 edge going into half-time. Zahid Ahmad increased the lead in the 49th before Zafar completed his hat-trick in the 55th minute.
Farooq Shah reduced the arrears to 2-4 in the 66th minute.