National discard Suman Reza started his journey with Abahani with a memorable strike as the six-time champions handed a 1-0 defeat to Dhaka Wanderers Club in their Bangladesh Premier League encounter at the Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Stadium in Cumilla on Saturday.

Suman, drafted into the starting XI for the first time by coach Maruful Haque, brilliantly headed a well-judged corner from Kamal Hossain into the far post in the 58th minute after stepping up from the middle of the box.

Despite no foreign players in the squad, Abahani have now registered back-to-back victories to join leaders Mohammedan and Rahmatganj on six points.

"I am happy to repay the faith of the coach," Suman said, adding that the team's target is to secure full points every match regardless of the margin of victory.

"I want to prove myself with consistent performances. We don't have any foreign players, but the locals have the mindset of playing against 11 foreign players," said Suman, who had scored only three goals for Sheikh Russel last season.

In another match of the day, Bangladesh Police came from behind to thrash promoted Fakirerpool Young Men's Club 4-1, with Al Amin striking twice while Joyonto Kumar and Manik Hossain Molla netting one goal apiece. Akobir Turaev scored a consolation goal for Fakirerpool.

Meanwhile, Brothers Union were held to a 1-1 draw by Fortis FC as Pa Omar cancelled out a first-minute strike from Brothers' Zakaria Darboe in the 18th minute to share points.