KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) jumped to the third spot after beating National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) 1-0 while Baloch FC got walkover against Police in matches of the 8th Pakistan Premier Football League held at different venues of the country on Monday. Here at the KPT Stadium, Ali Adeem Shehzad scored a fine field goal through a solo effort in the 30th minute to push PIA to the third place behind leaders KRL and Afghan FC with 42 points from 23 meetings. The winners dominated the game against the bankers, who struggled due to poor coordination. Soon after the breather, PIA’s frontline squandered a host of easy chances. National Bank, who were playing without their coach Nasir Ismail because of his engagement with the national team, went all out in the last 15 minutes but PIA goalkeeper Bilal Rafiq foiled all their efforts, saving three sure goals with an acrobatic display. In the dying moments, National Bank were unlucky not to earn an equaliser when seasoned striker Farooq Shah’s thunderbolt drive from distance crashed the bar. Meanwhile, Nushki’s Baloch FC were given a walk-over after newly promoted Police did not turn up for the match which was scheduled to be held at the Nushki Stadium. The match commissioner Mohammad Shafiq told ‘The News’ that security risk might have forced Police to forfeit their game.
