Defending champions East Bengal scored their fifth victory, trouncing Mohammedan Sporting 4-0 in an eighth National Football League match in Kolkata on Friday.
Leading 1-0 at the breather, the red and gold brigade tightened their stranglehold in the second session and struck thrice within the space of 13 minutes to seal the fate of their Kolkata rivals.
Alvito D'Cunha, Baichung Bhutia, Christiano Junior and Mike Okoro found the target for the winners, who now have 18 points from 10 matches.
Dempo lead the 12-team league with 20 points from 9 matches.
Sporting, who began the Salt Lake stadium match on a promising note, testing the East Bengal citadel repeatedly with enterprising moves, faded away as the game progressed. They came close to scoring thrice in the first-half, but East Bengal goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee brought off two fine saves, while Edeh Chidi missed a sitter.
Mohammedan Sporting, with six points from nine matches, are placed only above cellar team Indian Bank, who have two points.