Mohammedan's inspirational skipper Souleymane Diabate scored a brace as the Black and Whites took another step towards claiming a first-ever Bangladesh Premier League title with a 2-1 win against 10-man Bashundhara Kings at the Kings Arena on Saturday.

The Malian striker exploited two unforgivable mistakes from the opposition players to give the league leaders their second win in the league over the five-time champions, in the process all but ending the hosts' hopes of a successful title-defence.

Diabate had also scored in the reverse fixture of the league where Mohammedan had run out 1-0 winners in Cumilla while he had also scored the only goal for Mohammedan in their 3-1 defeat against the same opposition in the season-opening Challenge Cup fixture.

The 34-year-old gave Mohammedan the lead in the 18th minute with a placing finish from outside the box after a terrible mix-up between defender Deciel dos Santos and goalkeeper Mehedi Hasan Srabon had handed him the opportunity to strike his eighth goal of the campaign.

Kings, who were playing with only two foreigners in the starting XI against Mohammedan's four, hit back seven minutes later, with Rakib Hossain grabbing a poachers' goal, poking home a rebound after Mehedi Hasan Mithu managed to block a shot from Mohammad Sohel Rana from outside the box.

The hosts were reduced to 10 men three minutes after restart when right-back Rimon Hossain saw a second yellow card after needlessly pulling down Emmanuel Sunday near the byline, long way away from the box.

Kings brought on three changes soon, including introducing Argentine striker Juan Lescano for the first time alongside Evans Etti, and the latter was partially culpable for the second Mohammedan goal.

The Ghanaian forward lost the ball in midfield in the 85th minute before Sunday's long ball found Diabate close to the box. The Malian rounding off Srabon and Deciel and picked the back of the net with precision to send the visitors on way to another tremendous victory, which took them to 30 points from 11 matches – 10 ahead of Kings.

Mohammedan skipper Soleymane Diabate celebrates with a teammate following his winning goal against Bashundhara Kings. Photo: BFF

Abahani, meanwhile, remained in pursuit of Mohammedan with a commanding 4-1 win against Wanderers at the Shaheed Barkat Stadium in Gazipur.

Raphael Augusto opened the scoring after the break and then wrapped up the victory with a brace, with Sumon Reza and Mohammad Ridoy netting the other two goals for the Sky Blues, who now have 26 points from 11 matches.

Sakib Bepari scored the consolation goal from the spot for Wanderers.

Elsewhere, Fortis FC moved into the fifth position with a 2-0 win over Brothers Union at the Bir Shreshtho Flight Lt Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj.

Nineteen-year-old defender Aky Marma scored his first goal in the league while Pa Omar Babou confirmed of all three points for Fortis. Brothers Union, meanwhile, slipped to seventh position with 15 points.