Nazrul opened the account from a first-half penalty before a 5,000-strong sky-blues fans at the Bangabandhu National Stadium while Emily and his substitute Zahed Parvez struck after the break to seal their 12th win in 18 matches.

With just a couple of rounds left, Abahani crossed the 40-point mark with their archrivals Mohammedan on 38 points at end of the 20th week.

The black and whites travel to Khulna for their next game against local Abahani and have a relatively easy draw against Arambagh on the concluding day of the championship.

Amalesh Sen's league leaders, however, have difficult opponents as they meet two of the top four sides -- Sheikh Russel and Muktijoddha -- in their last encounters. Abahani drew both their first-leg games against Russel and Muktijoddha, whose hopes for a runners-up finish have already faded away.

Meanwhile, yesterday's result helped Abahani boost their goal-difference and reduce the gap with Mohammedan to only two. In case both teams end level on points, goal-difference will determine the title.

The sky-blues took control of the match from the word go with an all-local midfield and Abdullah Parvez sent Ibrahim clear after four minutes but the Ghanaian forward shot his chance wide from the middle of the penalty area.

Emily beat an offside trap soon but his effort went straight to goalkeeper Piru, whose reflex kept another Emily flick from point-blank range for a corner after a right-left combination between Siraji and Abdullah Parvez unsettled the Arambagh defence.

The resulting corner produced a penalty in the 18th minute when Abahani skipper Joy was felled by Ugandan defender Biketi inside the box.

Centre-back Nazrul made no mistake to put the ball into the back of the net for his fourth goal -- third from the spot -- this season.

Abul did well to race past Arambagh keeper Piru with a square pass from Emily four minutes before halftime but the national midfielder committed an unpardonable mistake when he failed to keep is volley on target with two opposition defenders scrambling to guard the open goal.

Mid-table Arambagh showed the knack to attack and created two chances in the dying moments of the first half but Biplab was alert at his near post, palming away a low drive by Domenic and a header by Biketi during a corner.

Ibrahim fluffed the easiest chances of the game as Abahani fired on all cylinders but he was inspirational behind Emily's 11th league goal that doubled the lead in the 56th minute.

The robust Ghanaian sped down the right before cutting a low ball toward the goalmouth where a lurking Emily effortlessly thumped the ball into the roof of the net.

The striker was replaced by Zahed a minute later and the diminutive midfielder made it 3-0 in the 79th minute. Joy sent Ujjal racing down the left flank and the medio dribbled past a defender before releasing a square-pass for Zahed who shot home on the trot for his first league goal.

Arambagh, who lost 2-0 in the first-leg, had their chances to reduce the margin but their top-scorer Nicodemus failed to meet a cross before an open net while substitute Ridon's close-range shot came off Siraji's legs. In injury time, Nicodemus and Morshed's simultaneous efforts also came off the defensive wall.

TEAMS
Abahani: Biplab, Siraji, Pradip, Nazrul, Mintu, Abul (Pranotosh), Abdullah Parvez (Tipu), Joy, Ujjal, Ibrahim and Emily (Zahed).

Arambagh: Piru, Monu (Sharif), Ramjan, Biketi, Akram, Ratan, Domenic, Zuku, Moloy (Ridon), Nicodemus and Iddi (Morshed).

Referee: Tayeb Hassan.

TOP SCORERS

15 goals: Junior (Brothers)

14 goals: Paul (Mohammedan)

12 goals: Emeka (Mohammedan)

11 goals: Emily (Abahani)

8 goals: Alfaz (Muktijoddha), Robin (Farashganj)

7 goals: Younes (Russel)

6 goals: Nicodemus (Arambagh), Abraham (Ctg Abahani), Moni (Muktijoddha)

5 goals: Khokon (Ctg Abahani), Ibrahim (Abahani)

4 goals: Prashanta, Mamun (Khulna Abahani), Ighir (Russel), Abul, Nazrul (Abahani), Brahim (Muktijoddha), Iddi (Arambagh), Asif, Dipu (Ctg Mohammedan)

3 goals: Pikul, Tajul (Khulna Abahani), Apu (RMFS), Biketi (Arambagh), Francis (Rahmatganj), Santosh (Ctg Abahani)