Bagan thrash Mohammadan 3-1

Kolkata:Subair Muritala Ali fired a hat-trick as defending champions Mohun Bagan thrashed Mohammadan AC 3-1 in their Calcutta Football League Premier Division encounter here on Wednesday .

Dominating right from the start, Mohun Bagan`s Nigerian forward Muritala struck in the 11th, 23rd and 68th minute to complete the rout. Mohammadan AC reduced the margin through Saheed in the 16th minute. Muritala opened his account from a Snehashish Chakraborty corner with Edeh Chidi setting it up for the first goal. Five minutes later, a Mohun Bagan defender failed to clear a corner kick by Mohammadan AC as Saheed took possession of the ball but ended up hitting the post.Saheed got another chance from the deflection and he made no mistake this time to make it 1-1. Chidi once again was instrumental in the second goal as Muritala scored through his right-footer to help Mohun Bagan snatch the lead. Muritala completed his hat-trick after the changeover as he scored in the 68th minute from a Jose Barreto pass to earn full points for Mohun Bagan. Mohun Bagan now have 19 points from eight matches, while East Bengal lead the standings with 33 points from 11 matches. PTI