KARACHI: Leaders Karachi Port Trust (KPT) defeated Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) by 1-0 in Pakistan Premier Football League held here at the Korangi Baloch Football Ground in Sharafi Goth on Tuesday.

In another battle held at Government High School Ground Chaman, Balochistan, Afghan FC beat Pakistan Steel 2-0. At Korangi Baloch, both PIA and KPT played rough and tough game right from the first whistle as the players of both the teams played with sheer determination.

In the first 19 minutes KPT’s defenders kept a lid on PIA’s Shakir Lashari. A minute later, PIA were reduced to ten men after the referee Iqbal Baloch red-carded Shakir Lashari for foul play.

After Lashari was shown the red card, the vice-captain of PIA Muhammad Haji had a spat with the referee and was also shown yellow card as a result, his second in the league so far.

Now, PIA will miss both Shakir and Muhammad Haji when they will take the field against Habib Bank Limited (HBL) tomorrow (Thursday) here at Peoples Stadium. At half time, the match was evenly poised at 0-0.

The second half also saw some rough tackling from both sides, preventing the strikers to get enough room to get through. Though both teams got few goal scoring opportunities but were unable to convert them. Finally, the deadlock was broken when Abdul Rehman struck for KPT with a fine personal effort in the 88th minute, gifting the visitors a spectacular win.

Interestingly, two brothers were seen playing against each other. Zafar Majeed was representing KPT while his younger brother Hanif Majeed was playing from PIA. The win took KPT’s points to 23 from 11 matches while PIA have 13 points from 11 meetings.

In the second tie held in Chaman, Balochistan, Afghan FC defeated Pakistan Steel by 2-0. It was a one-sided battle as the hosts Afghan FC, while enjoying the support of a huge crowd, kept the situation under control throughout the match.

Hayatuallah provided Afghan FC the lead just before half time through personal effort. In the second half, the hosts added to the miseries of the Pakistan Steel when they took their lead to 2-0 through Jadid Khan Pathan in the dying moments.

Till Tuesday, KPT were leading with 23 points from 11 meetings, followed by KESC with 19 points from ten matches, KRL (15 points, 8 matches), HBL (15, 11), Pakistan Steel (15, 12), Army (14, 7), Afghan FC (14, 7), PIA (13, 11), PEL (12, 10), WAPDA (11, 8), Navy (10, 8), NBP (10, 11), PMC (9, 10), PTV (0, 7).

Today’s fixtures: Pak Elektron Limited (PEL) v Army at Raiders FC Ground, Lahore; WAPDA v KRL at Railways Stadium, Lahore; PMC v PTV at PMC Ground, Faisalabad.