Week Seven - April 8th

- Week Seven saw Emaan jump back into first, Shukr get a solid grip on 3rd while moving them within reach of a top-two spot and Ikhlas picked up their first win and jumped past Ihsan into 5th.

- The night opened with Ihsan going into a critical game against Ikhlas with an empty net as Fraz Khan continues to recover from injury.  The result was a devastating 7-0 loss that dropped Ihsan into 6th place.

- Emaan recovered from their blowout loss to Sabr a week earlier to control their game against Haya and get a 5-1 win.  Leaving nothing to chance in a game that would decide first place, Emaan rolled out their top line often and the strategy worked as the double-shifts allowed for mismatches that they were able to exploit.  Yousuf Sowdagar finished with 3 goals and an assist while Gehad Alhundi had three assists.  Arif Bijabhai looked good in his debut with a pair of assists.

- For Ihsan the defeat was demoralising on multiple levels, Amir Multani and Ahmad Hathout were shut out again which has observers stunned.  Suffice to say Hathout is now 0/5 in his quest to break the record for fastest goal but to have these two players struggling so mightily is a shock - and one of the key factors in the teams struggle.

- Haya was missing captain Waqar Khan last week with some confusion as to where he was with one observer suggesting he had gone looking for his league jersey in Bangladesh where they were made as Haya had a few sent in at the beginning of the season to have the size corrected and they never returned.

- Ikhlas had a rough start to their season but things are looking up and one of their key players in Humza Chaudhry is finding his groove.  The young winger have five goals and an assist in his past two games - production that many expected from him and now that he is starting to pick it up look for Ikhlas to start winning more.

- Shukr got a boost with the debut of Sadat Malik who was dealing with an injury and missed the first four games of the season.  He finished the game with an assist and looks like a fit for the system Shukr plays under Coach K who must be relieved to have some help as he has been carrying this team all season.

- Umair Ashraf was another player missing for Haya last week, reportedly he was off celebrating his successful contribution to the MAX Gala Awards where he served as MC.  Many praised the work of Ashraf at this event and noted that he handled the pressure better than he has during his I-Slam Debut where he….anyhow credit also goes to Aazar Zafar of Shukr as the driving force behind this great event.

- Sabr took a blow before their game when it was revealed that Osama Soliman has an injured finger and was forced to withdraw.  He will be replaced by Shuaib Hussein who has played with some of Sabr’s key players before and will be under pressure to replace the production of Soliman who had put up 6 points in four games.

- Shukr got a big win over Sabr last week which gives them a firm grip on 3rd place and just a win away from first place.  Coach K had high expectations for his team and a top two finish was part of that plan so he seems to be getting his team to where they were expected to finish as the season progresses.

- In the big win Ikhlas had last week over Ihsan, the effort of Rayhan Taqiuddin stood out for some additional praise, he used his body to wear down opposing players and a big collision with Ihsan forward Ahmad Ibrahim left the latter down for a short time.  Taqiuddin was credited with some solid back-checking on the Ihsan forwards in helping to limit Amir Multani and Ahmad Hathout and added an empty net goal in the final minute of his teams big win which jumped them out of last and into 5th place.

- There are reports that there will be a bit of a goalie shortage this week with some minor knocks taking net minders out for the week, expect to see Sumeer Subedar, Zaid Majoo and Sheraz Mahmood filling in for teams in need.

Player of the Game Videos have been Posted:
Ikhlas vs Ihsan - Humza Chaudhry (video not available)
Emaan vs Haya - Yousuf Sowdagar (video not available)
Shukr vs Sabr - Aazar Zafar with three goals in the win