Mumbai City FC proved why they are the team to watch out for in this ISL season, with a clinical 3-0 win over a hapless SC East Bengal at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim, Goa.
Striker Adam le Fondre scored a brace (20', 48'), including a penalty, while midfielder Hernan Santana (58') put the finishing touches.
The Islanders broke the deadlock in the 20th minute with a superb counter-attack from Hugo Boumous, who beat his marker and found Le Fondre, who made an easy tap in.
All hell broke loose after the changeover as East Bengal conceded twice in space of 10 minutes with Fondre completing his brace from a penalty in the 48th minute.
Spanish midfielder Hernan Santana then nailed in a goal in the 58th from an Ahmed Jahouh pass to take the Islanders to the top of the table, alongside ATK Mohun Bagan.
The red and gold suffered an early setback when their captain Daniel Fox sustained an injury and had to be replaced by Mohammed Rafique in the seventh minute.
East Bengal got a chance in the 19th minute but Rafique's shot was denied by a diving Amrinder Singh.
Then it was Mumbai City FC who rule the proceedings starting with a supreme counter-attack.
It was Rowllin Borges who played a long ball to Boumous on the left flank as he went past a sloppy Surchandra Singh to set up the goal for Fondre.
After the changeover, SCEB goalkeeper Majumder came out of his line and committed a foul as the referee blew the whistle, pointing to the spot.
Fondre doubled the lead sending the ball to the opposite side of a diving Majumder.
The Islanders got their third goal when Jahouh delivered a fantastic ball from the free-kick and Santana took control of it before smashing it into the bottom right corner.
SC East Bengal looked really unorganised in the defence and Surchandra playing as the left back looked completely out of place.
After an upset at the hands of the NorthEast United FC in the opener, the Mumbai team has gone from strength to strength to notch up their second consecutive win to go top of the points table with six points.
East Bengal, on the other hand, are languishing at the bottom of the table with two losses in as many games. They lost to their arch-rivals ATK Mohun Bagan by a solitary goal on their ISL debut.
(With PTI inputs)
