Indian Army stormed to the top of Group B with a dominant 4-0 victory over Baghpat FC in a group league match of the 135th Durand Cup tournament at the Kishore Bharati Stadium on Wednesday.
Result
Indian Navy had lost its opening fixture 0-1 to local side FC Raengdai. Roshan Panna opened the scoring in the first half before E. Muhammed Inayath doubled the lead after the break to seal the Sailors’ first win. The Kolkata outfit scored as early as the fourth minute and kept adding to the tally until second-half stoppage time to complete its dominance. After Sanan Mohammed gave Jamshedpur the lead in the 22nd minute, Hnamte scored in the 51st and 56th minutes to secure SC Delhi’s win.
Key Moments
South United, which had opened with a 2-0 win over CISF Protectors, was simply outclassed by Bagan. The win also took Indian Army to six points from two matches and moved it ahead of Samaleswari FC — also on six points — on the basis of a superior goal difference. Baghpat, which suffered its third consecutive defeat, exited the tournament without a point. Manvir Singh starred with a hat-trick while substitute Suhail Bhat struck twice in three minutes. Alberto Rodriguez, Rahul Bheke and an own goal by South United defender Noel S. completed the rout.
Player and Team Performance
The Army side produced a fine first-half performance, with Samir Murmu, Saikhom Borish Singh, Shubham Rana, and Christopher Kamei finding the net in succession to seal their team’s second successive win.
