Kolkata: Landanmawia Ralte struck a hat-trick as a rampaging East Bengal toyed with Shillong Lajong FC to win 5-0, their fourth consecutive victory in the I-League, here Thursday.
Ralte struck in the eighth, 27th and 61st minutes while Jobby Justin (28th) and Enrique Esqueda (45th) scored one each in the first half, helping East Bengal cut the deficit to three points with leaders Chennai City FC with a match in hand.
Their fourth win on the trot took East Bengal past their Sunday’s opponents Churchill Brothers to the third place in the table, giving their maiden I-League title pursuit a huge boost in front of about 25,000 turnout.
Real Kashmir are second in the table with 32 points, having played 16 matches, compared to East Bengal’s 15.
By denying Shillong Lajong a single goal, East Bengal’s goal difference (14) also got a big fillip. Chennai City have a goal difference of 15.
Fresh from two wins in a row, the bottom-placed Shillong Lajong FC came out with a lot of hopes, but the young outfit were simply outplayed and left demoralised by the home side.
The opening goal for East Bengal came from a clinical Lalrindika Ralte corner when Laldanmawia scored with a header after being left unmarked.
East Bengal maintained the majority of possession and the Shillong outfit did not get a single chance till Samuel Kynshi’s 22th minute free-kick sailed over the bar.
The red-and-gold brigade kept pressing hard and Laldanmawia capitalised on a long through ball by Borja Gomez to double the lead.
Before the visitors could blink, East Bengal made it 3-0, this time Jobby scoring, heading home into an empty net from Esqueda’s clever placement. It became 4-0 on the stroke of half time after Antonio Dovale set up Esqueda with a long ball and the Mexican brilliantly struck home with a powerful shot.
PTI