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LAHORE Three matches were decided in the Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) at Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
PAF drew 1-1 with PMC Athletico at the PAF Complex, Islamabad, while Army faced tough moments from spirited PEL at Rawalpindis Army Sports Complex before winning the game 2-1. The clash between Pakistans powerhouses - KRL v Wapda - ended in a 1-1 draw at the KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi.
Sialkot-born spearhead Sharjeel Vicky became the leading scorer for the soldiers when he struck his fifth goal of the show in the 2-1 win over PEL.
The visitors from Lahore were first to break the ice when they took the lead in the 16th minute through Sargodha-born defender Sagheer Ahmed who beautifully caught Asmatullah's cross to scoop it past keeper Jaffar Khan. But Army came back and drew level through Vicky on the stroke of interval.
It was left to former Pakistan keeper Jaffar Khan to seal the fate of the match in the 87th minute. Jaffar went up field to take a free-kick and hammered the ball past the keeper with a powerful drive. Army managed 25 points from 10 outings while PEL has 15 points from 12.
In the other match, PAF and PMC shared one goal each as well as one point each. After a scoreless first session, Haroon Yousuf utilised the 51st minute penalty-kick, beating keeper Mehraj Khaliq all ends up. But three minutes later midfielder Mohammad Iqbal gave a sigh of relief to Coach Qazi Asif and other colleagues when his free kick proved too good for keeper Basit Ghafoor. PAF secured 15 points from 12 matches while PMC also registered the same number of points from 13 outings.
Meanwhile, Wapda struck the second half goal to draw with KRL last evening. KRL's frontrunner Mohammad Qasim hammered the opener as early as in the fourth minute beating keeper Abdul Aziz with an angular, low drive.
KRL led 1-0 at interval. Wapda staged a recovery and drew level through international Imran Niazi. Both the teams completed their 12th match. League-leader KRL recorded 29 points as compared to national title-holder Wapda's 26.
Wednesday's fixtures Nushki Baloch FC v HBL at Nushki Stadium, Nushki; Afghan FC v NBP at Govt High School, Chaman. Matches kick off at 4.00pm.-Agencies
