AFC Cup: Colaco stars with hat-trick in Bagan’s victory

MUMBAI: Young India forward Liston Colaco scored a stunning hat-trick to help ATK Mohun Bagan rout Bashundhara Kings of Bangladesh 4-0 here on Saturday and keep its inter-zone semi-final hopes alive in the AFC Cup.

In a must-win situation after its defeat to Gokulam Kerala in the Group D opener on Wednesday, Mohun Bagan’s strong start was halted by strong winds and thunder showers that also damaged some parts of the Salt Lake Stadium here.

After 11 minutes, the match was held up for close to one hour. The Mariners returned to blow away the Bangladeshi Premier League champion with Colaco’s double strike in the space of nine minutes (25th and 34th). Colaco completed his hat-trick in the 53rd minute with a brilliant left-footed first touch while David Williams came off the bench to seal a thumping win with his 77th-minute strike.

A fit-again India central defender Sandesh Jhingan was back in action after an injury layoff as the Juan Ferrando-coached side started off with a positive intent. In the absence of Tiri, who has been ruled out for months because of an ACL tear, Jhingan helmed the ATKMB defence along with Subhasish Bose and Pritam Kotal, even as there was little challenge for them.

A defensive lapse from Bashundhara gave Mohun Bagan the opening goal and the 23-year-old Colaco scored from a Carl McHugh assist. There was no looking back from there on and Colaco fired in his second goal, this time from Joni Kauko’s clinical pass.

Colaco completed his hat-trick with Khaled Shafiei failing to clear an easy ball and Manvir Singh setting it up from the right. Williams then showed superb ball control to make it 4-0 minutes after he replaced Kauko.

In another match, Gokulam went down 0-1 to Maziya S&RC from the Maldive