Mohun Bagan Super Giant swept into the last eight of the Durand Cup after topping Group A with a 6-0 thrashing of CISF Protectors.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant topped Group A of the 135th Durand Cup in style with a commanding 6-0 win over CISF Protectors at the Kishore Bharati Stadium on Monday, securing a place in the quarterfinals.
Sahal Abdul Samad starred for the Mariners with a first-half hat-trick. He opened the scoring in the 17th minute following a setup by Liston Colaco and added a second two minutes later off a Dezan Drazic pass. Manvir Singh scored in the 24th minute to make it 3-0, before Sahal completed his hat-trick with a spectacular solo effort in the 37th minute.
In the second half, substitute Jamie Maclaren scored the fifth goal in the 68th minute, and Tekcham Abhishek Singh sealed the rout five minutes later. Mohun Bagan, who previously defeated South United FC 8-0, finished a perfect group-stage campaign with nine points from three matches. East Bengal FC finished second in Group A with six points.
Meanwhile, in Group C action at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Ranchi, Sporting Club Delhi crushed Indian Air Force 7-1 to secure top spot and advance to the last eight with three straight wins. Rodrigo Da Silva, Juan Sebastian Pena (two goals), Duvan Viafara, Lalrinliana Hnamte, Clarence Savio, and Richard Ndayishimiye scored for Sporting Club Delhi, while Samuel Vanlalpeka netted the sole goal for Indian Air Force.
Reporting sourced from The Hindu Football. Photo courtesy The Hindu Football.