Brazilian striker Douglas Tardin scored a hat-trick inside 15 minutes -- the fastest of the season -- as Shillong Lajong thrashed Sporting Club Bengaluru 5-0 in an I-League match in Shillong on Monday.
At the SSA Stadium, Lajong ran riot with goals from Daniel Goncalves (40th minute), Figo Syndai (45+2) and Tardin (60th, 67th, 75th) while it was utter humiliation for the newly-promoted Bengaluru side.
Lajong's third win of the campaign and fourth consecutive clean sheet at home lifted them to fourth place with 12 points.
SC Bengaluru, meanwhile, remained rooted to the bottom of the table with just five points in eight games so far.
It was a rough start to the match with plenty of crunching tackles flying around. Referee Shantan Agrawal brandished cards and Shillong Lajong's Kynsailang Khongsit and Aman Ahlawat, and SC Bengaluru's Manoj Kannan were already in the book after just 17 minutes.
There weren't many clear cut chances despite the action being end-to-end because of some wasteful finishing from both sides.
However, Lajong changed that trend in the 40th minute as Goncalves scored with a crisp volley from a Hardy Cliff Nongbri corner. The Brazilian defender, left unmarked by the visitors' defence, opened up his body and side-footed it with his left boot.
Japanese goalkeeper Yuya Kuriyama, making his debut for the Golden Tigers, could have done better as he got a big part of his glove to the ball but could not keep it out.
At the stroke of half time, Figo Syndai doubled the lead after a solid team effort from the hosts. Phrangki Buam slipped a cutback from the right that landed perfectly outside the six-yard box for Syndai, who converted with ease.
The second half only belonged to one man -- Tardin. The first of his 15-minute scoring spree was a tap-in from close range in the 60th minute after a howler from Kuriyama.
The Japanese spilled what should have been a rather comfortable save from Damaitphang Lyngdoh's long-range strike and Tardin duly punished it.
Seven minutes later, the Brazilian scored with a fine header into the bottom corner after a peach of a cross from the right by Khongsit.
Tardin completed his hat-trick in the 75th minute, capitalising on a poor headed pass by Chongtham Kishan Singh. He raced into the box and deftly dinked it over an onrushing Kuriyama to make it five for Lajong.
At Sri Bhaini Sahib in Punjab, hosts Namdhari FC beat Inter Kashi 2-0 to rise to second place in the I-League table.
Namdhari, who played with 10 men for almost the entirety of the second half, scored through Bhupinder Singh (13th) and Francis Addo (85th).
Harpreet Singh's team are now level on 14 points with Inter Kashi, but ahead on head-to-head.
Inter Kashi's second defeat of the campaign meant that Churchill Brothers regained top spot in the league with 16 points.
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