Formidable East Bengal maintained their all-win record and moved closer to a quarter-final berth after blanking Island FC of Maldives 3-0 in a one-sided Group-E AFC Cup encounter in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Riding on the skills of their foreign recruits, East Bengal enjoyed complete sway over the match at the Salt Lake Stadium.
Brazilian Douglas de Silva put East Bengal ahead early in the match before compatriot Christiano Junior consolidated the position with an opportunistic strike to give the Kolkata giants a 2-0 lead at half time.
Nigerian striker Mike Okoro then found the target towards the end to seal the fate of the visitors, who succumbed to their fourth defeat in as many matches.
East Bengal, who have won all their four matches in the tournament so far, are atop the group league standings with 12 points while Island are yet to open their account.
East Bengal now need only a draw in their remaining two matches to advance to the last eight.
With their midfielders feeding the strikers well, East Bengal looked the superior side right from the kick-off, while the islanders seemed inexperienced and unable to find their bearings except for some fleeting moments midway into the first session.
The locals, who won the away encounter 2-1 earlier this month, drew first blood from a spectacular set piece in the ninth minute. Douglas's left footed curling free-kick from near
the top box wrong footed the rival goalkeeper and sneaked in through the first post.
Junior then got into the act in the 35th minute, but the credit for the goal should go to S Malsawmtluanga, who did the spadework from the left.
Receving the ball from Dipankar Roy, Malsawmtluanga cut into the box, dodged past a defender and sent a measured minus for the Brazilian, who calmly put the ball home to score his fifth goal of the tournament.
The match slowed down in the second half as the East Bengal players seemed complacent with a double goal cushion, though they had most of the ball possession.
Six minutes from close, a Malswamtluanga flag-kick from the left was headed home from inside the box by Okoro. Island Defender Ismail Mohammad made a frantic effort to clear from near the goal line, but the referee signalled a goal as Ismail's feet were inside the goal when he made contact with the ball.
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