Kozhikode | ATK Mohun Bagan began their Super Cup campaign with an emphatic 5-1 drubbing of Gokulam Kerala FC at the EMS Corporation Stadium here on Monday.
The home team fans watched in stunned disbelief as the ISL champions toyed with their defence with winger Liston Colaco being the star of the show, scoring two early goals that put the Green and Maroon in a comfortable position within the first 30 minutes.
Gokulam Kerala's defensive line was found wanting on multiple occasions, something that Hugo Boumous took advantage of to lodge a goal and an assist to his name.
While Manvir Singh and Kiyan Nassiri scored the other goals for Mohun Bagan, Sergio Mendigutxia pulled one back for the Malabarians later in in the second half. But by then, the visitors were already in cruise control.
Mohun Bagan FC coach Juan Ferrando fielded a strong side -- while he rested Australian Dimitrios Petratos, young Nassiri received a start upfront.
The Green and Maroon brigade didn't have to wait for long to break Gokulam's defence as they opened the scoring in the seventh minute.
Boumous forced the Gokulam defender Abdul Hakku to commit a mistake, winning the loose ball and passing it on to Liston Colaco. Liston received the ball at the edge of the penalty box and curled it into the far corner to make it 1-0 to the Mariners.
Liston then added one more goal to his tally to make it 2-0 in the 27th minute. A brilliant move started from the right as Asish Rai switched the ball with a perfectly weighted long ball to Liston.
Liston fooled Gokulam's defender Subhankar with his immaculate first touch and then unleashed a shot towards far post, leaving Shibinraj with no chance.
Boumous then got in on the act as he received the ball from Kiyan Nassiri in the middle of the pitch, decided to run inside Gokulam's penalty box and beat Shibinraj to make it 3-0 just before the half time.
Manvir made it 4-0 for the Kolkata giants in the 63rd minute when a pass from Liston on the left was collected by Boumous. He then passed the ball to Manvir, who was waiting in the box. The India international took a touch away from his marker and smashed the ball into the bottom corner to take the game out of Gokulam's hands.
The Malabarians pulled one back in the second half. Off a free kick, Bouba Aminou provided the ball for Sergio Mendigutxia to head in.
Bagan's Kiyan Nassiri added to Gokulam's miseries by scoring his team's fifth goal of the match moments before the final whistle as he pounced on a failed clearance to make the most of it.
