PTI
BARASAT, West Bengal
Aser Dipanda Dicka struck twice to power Mohun Bagan to a 5-0 thrashing of Churchill Brothers as another goal fest was witnessed in the I-League football fixture at the Barasat Stadium on Sunday.
On a rain-drenched afternoon, it was also raining goals after Ansumana Kromah (23rd minute) opened the scoring, firing in from just outside the box, before Dipanda Dicka (34th, 46th) made it 3-0 after the break. Having set up two, former Mohammedan Sporting midfielder Sheikh Faiaz (49th) notched his maiden goal of the I-League before captain Sony Norde (84th) joined the party despite struggling with a knee injury.
Man-of-the-match Dicka had a fine run in the stoppage time and almost made it 6-0 for Mohun Bagan but he missed his hat-trick from a sitter to spare Churchill further embarrassment. The five-star show also matched their arch-rival East Bengal's 5-1 rout of Shillong Lajong at the same venue on Saturday. Mohun Bagan and Minerva Punjab now have seven points each after three rounds but the Kolkata giants have a goal difference of six as compared to three of the Ludhiana outfit.
Despite their superlative victory, Mohun Bagan had some concerns as four of their players, including Haitian star player Norde, were down with their respective injuries on the artificial turf. Norde entered his name into the scoresheet after brilliantly cutting in from the left to convert a powerful shot from the edge of the box but he soon started limping and was attended by the physio. Having exhausted all his substitutions, coach Sanjoy Sen had no option as Norde was seen continuing with the proceedings with a strapped knee.
Earlier, Kromah also looked to be in pain with a groin injury and was replaced by Rana Gharami, while Japanese medio Yuta Kinowaki (collar bone) was stretchered off to ambulance in the seventh minute and defender Arijit Bagui (ankle) too
was replaced.
