Unstoppable East Bengal continued their dream run as they thrashed Air India 6-1 at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata, to register their sixth win on the trot and consolidate their position at the top of the I-League standings.
Mercurial striker Tolgay Ozbay struck twice (42nd, 50th), while Saumik Dey (11th), Robin Singh (33rd), Mehtab Hussain (50th) and substitute Ravinder Singh (90+1st) scored a goal each to complete the rout.
However, the match also saw the red-and-gold brigade concede its first goal of the league, when Air India scored through Eric Boiwe in the 55th minute.
East Bengal, who have already won two titles in the Federation Cup and the Calcutta Football League this season, have 18 points from six matches, while the Mumbai outfit remained on three points after as many matches.
The title favourites, who led 3-0 at half time, began in a typical attacking fashion and that unsettled the Air India defence.
With the in-form striking duo of Ozbay and Robin looking to cash in on every opportunity, Air India's defence found the going tough and never really looked in control of the proceedings.
Midfielder Hussain created the opening as Saumik nicely put the ball in from a Sanju Pradhan pass to help the hosts open their account.
Baffled by the early strike, Air India looked for covers while East Bengal continued to attack.
In the 13th minute, Air India custodian Arup Debanth almost conceded a goal, but recovered to gather the ball in the second attempt as a surging Robin failed to clear the ball from an Orji Penn centre.
East Bengal's Sandip Nandy thwarted a nice curling freekick by Eric with a diving save in the 22nd minute.
