Shillong: A second half hat-trick from Cornell Glen helped hosts Shillong Lajong FC thrash East Bengal 5-1 in an I-League match at the J N Stadium on Saturday.
Apart from Glen scoring a hat-trick, Zodingliana Ralte and Seminlen Doungel were the other two goal scorers for the hosts, while Cavin Lobo netted the solitary goal for the visitors.
It was a slow start as both teams struggled to maintain balance at the midfields and with the ball possession.
East Bengal made the first attempt through Dudu Omagbeni but his shot was saved by the rival keeper Kunzang Bhutia in the eighth minute. Ranti Martins followed suit when his strike from just outside the box went a little above the bar.
It was Shillong Lajong FC who successfully netted the ball when Glen sent across a beautiful pass to Ralte, who scored the first goal in the 20th minute.
Penn Orji and Uilliams Bomfin combined well at the front but only to let the former's shot went wide above the bar.
Twelve minutes later, Cavin Lobo made no mistake in converting a shot from just outside the box to score the equaliser.
The two team went into the break tied 1-1.
After the break, Glen scored his first of the three goals in the 48th minute and followed it up with two more in the 75th and 80th minute of the match.
Doungel, who replaced Uilliams, also manage to pull one behind the net in the 70th minutes, just within few minutes of his coming in the field.
After this match, Shillong retained their ninth spot in the table having earned 23 points from 20 matches, five points clear of bottom placed Bharat FC.
In another I-League match, Creative midfielder Taisuke Matsugae scored a brilliant goal in stoppage time to help Mumbai FC beat a fighting Bharat FC 2-1 at the Cooperage ground on Saturday.
While Mumbai had taken an early lead in the game, played in hot and humid conditions, Bharat FC's Palestine import Omar Jaarun came off the bench and scored.
The game seemed to be drifting to a draw when Mumbai's Japanese import Taisuke, who missed quite a few games in the middle of the season due to an injury, scored with a running header off an inch-perfect goalmouth right cross from Mohammed Rafi, who had been fed by Climax Lawrence.
In fact, it was a clever move to send the Japanese up front in place of an off colour Josimar.
Earlier, Lawrence had sent in the cross off a corner kick from the right for Mehta to jump over the Bharat FC defence and bury his header into the left bottom corner of the net and provide Mumbai the lead in the 10th minute.
Bharat FC, who had no clear view of the rival goal in the first half, brought in Omar up front from the bench in the second half and started dictating terms, which bore fruit in the 70th minute when the Palestinian flicked the ball over the rival goalkeeper and made it dip into the goal off a pass from Surajit Bose.
In the end, it came to a piece of brilliance from Taisuke to break the deadlock and give Mumbai their fifth win - and second against Bharat FC after a 2-0 first leg verdict - of the season.
Debutantes Pune-based Bharat FC finished at the bottom of the 11-team pile with 18 points but as per the decision of the All India Football Federation they cannot be relegated for three years.
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