Mohun Bagan continued to revel in home conditions as it thrashed Minerva Punjab FC 4-0 in the third round of I-League here at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium on Tuesday.
The host gained from the form of Scotsman Daryl Duffy, who shared the four goals with his Indian colleague Jeje Lalpekhlua. With Haitian Sony Norde joining the attack, Mohun Bagan put the newcomer of the tournament on the back foot right from the start.
Bagan took the lead 17 minutes into the action when Norde set his free-kick right in the area inside the Minerva box. Duffy leapt over the reach of the opposition defender Ramandeep Singh before nodding the ball home and put the host ahead.
Looking to enhance the lead, Bagan doubled its efforts and found target couple of minutes from the half-hour mark. Making his first appearance for the team this season, Jeje scored Bagan’s second goal latching on to an assist from Subhasish Bose, who created the move combining in a nice one-two-one with Norde.
Bagan continued to attack relentlessly as its young opponent failed to put together a cohesive challenge. The host went up 3-0 by the 32nd minute as its Japanese midfielder Katsumi Yusa set a long ball for Duffy. The Scotsman got the better of the Minerva defender Loveday Eyinnaya before slotting the ball home past goalkeeper Kamaljit Singh.
The host continued to make merry after the break and could have added another in the 57th minute but for the upright which prevented Norde’s long-ranger from going in. The only good opportunity for the visitor came in the 64th minute when Joel Sunday beat the Bagan custodian Debjit Gosh just to find the crosspiece coming in the way.
Jeje completed the scoring process the 77th minute when he collected a Bikramjit Singh cross, which came to him deflecting off a Minerva defender, and made no mistake in tapping it home. Mohun Bagan tallied nine points from three successive wins to reclaim its position on top of the current standings.
The result:
Mohun Bagan 4 (Darryl Duffy 17, 32, Jeje Lalpekhlua 28, 77) bt Minerva Punjab FC 0.
