Defending champions Mohun Bagan were in full flow on Sunday as they outclassed Viva Kerala 3-1 in a quarter-final match of the 29th Hero Cycles Federation Cup Football Tournament at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana.
For Mohun Bagan, Jose Ramirez Barreto (16th), substitute Ishfaq Ahmed (40th) and Pachau Lalram Puia (56th) were the scorers, while P Sajesh (51st) was the lone goal getter for Viva Kerala.
Bagan dominated the proceedings from the start of the match and established a healthy 2-0 lead at the end of first half.
The Kolkata gaints meant business as they threatened the Kerala goal as early as in in the third minute when following a throw-in, Bagan's Shanmugam Venkatesh misdirected his shot from outside the box.
Five minutes later, Viva Kerala had a narrow escape as Jose Ramirez Barreto's bicyle kick sailed over the bar.
Another abortive move by Bagan came in the 13th minute but Venkatesh's shot was too weak to trouble Viva Kerala custodian T G Purshothaman.
The hard-working Bagan players met with their initial success in the 16th minute when Barreto dived forward to connect a header from Peter Odafe's cross which beat Kerala custodian Purshothaman.
One minute before the half time, the Kolkata side got their second goal through substitute Ishfaq Ahmed, who came in place of Dharamjit Singh in the 36th minute.
Opportunitist Ishfaq capitalised on a sloppy defensive error of Othallo Tabia who was undone by a long ball, to give Bagan a 2-0 lead in the 40th minute.
However, Viva Kerala, who had an impressive record last season, were not disheartened despite being two goals down.
P Sajesh's dip-in long ranger crossed over the headgot of Bagan keeper Sangram Mukherjee to bring one back for the Keralian side in the 51st minute.
But Mohun Bagan retaliated in the 55th minute and scored their third goal through Pachau Lalam Puia.
James Lukram Singh shuffled the ball from the right to the left foot before sending it into towards Barreto who missed it but Lalram Puia was in the right position and did not make any mistake to find the target.
In the dying moments of the game (82nd minute), Othallo Tabia of Viva Kerala and Bagan's Ishfaq Ahmed were both shown yellow cards following a verbal exchange and pushing.
