Petar Sliskovic struck a brace as Chennaiyin FC (CFC) outplayed a 10-man TRAU 4-1 in a Group C match to earn its first win in the Durand Cup football tournament at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal on Thursday.
The towering Croatian forward Sliskovic scored in the first minute, one of the fastest goals in the tournament, to give Chennaiyin an early advantage.
Chennaiyin’s frontline kept pushing and earned a penalty in the 19th minute. Kwame Karikari unleashed a low powerful shot to make it 2-0.
TRAU put up a spirited effort before it was reduced to 10 men following a red card to forward Salam Johnson Singh in the 36th minute.
Still, it won a penalty in the dying minutes of the first half and skipper TRAU captain Komron Tursunov slotted home a beauty to make it 2-1.
Chennaiyin virtually took the match away from the host as Vafa Hakhamaneshi headed in the third goal (51st minute) and Sliskovic scored through a superb header from a long pass into the box from the left within four minutes.
Easily done
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Kerala Blasters recorded a fine 2-0 win over Army Green in a Group D encounter to make it to the quarterfinals.
For Blasters, Muhammad Aimen opened the account in the 25th minute and Aritra Das doubled the lead in the injury time of the first half.
Special Correspondent reports from Kolkata
Jamshedpur FC concluded its campaign on a high as it got the better of Indian Air Force (IAF) 2-1 in an inconsequential Group A league match at the Kishore Bharati Stadium on Thursday.
The win saw Jamshedpur FC finishing third in the league table with six points while IAF finished last losing all its matches. Mohammedan Sporting (nine points from three matches) and Bengaluru FC (seven from three) have already booked quarterfinal berths from the group.
ATK MB wins
Meanwhile, ATK Mohun Bagan rode on the early strikes from Lenny Rodrigues and Kiyan Nassiri to prevail over Indian Navy 2-0 in a Group B league match on Wednesday.
The 16-time champion, which completed its group league with seven points from four matches, has to wait for the result of the last group league match between Rajasthan United FC and Indian Navy on September 5, which will decide the final group standings.
The results: At Imphal: Group C: Chennaiyin FC 4 (Sliskovic 1, 55, Karikari 20-pen, Vafa 51) bt Trau 1 (Tursunov 45-pen).
Group D: Kerala Blasters 2 (Aimen 25, Aritra 45+3) bt Army Green 0.
At Kolkata: Group A: Jamshedpur 2 (Piyush 26, Ruatmawia 84) bt IAF 1 (Somananda Singh 39).
Group B: ATK Mohun Bagan 2 (Lenny 18, Kiyan 28) bt Indian Navy 0.
