Mahindra United sped past East Bengal 2-0 while Mohun Bagan rode on a Jose Barreto hat-trick to blank city rivals Mohammedan Sporting 3-0 in the 113th IFA Shield tournament quarter-final group league matches in Kolkata on Saturday.
In the day's other encounter, Churchill Brothers and Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting played out a goalless draw.
The Mumbai-based Mahindra United scored both their goals in the first-half to take their points tally to three from two matches, after having lost 0-2 to South Africa's Santos Football Club on Thursday.
The Group B outing at the Barasat stadium saw Mohammed Rafi put Mahindra ahead in the 37th minute, before Yousif Yakubu doubled the lead six minutes later.
Playing at the floodlit Salt Lake Stadium, Bagan put up a spectacular show, scoring all their goals in the first half.
The green and maroon brigade drew first blood within half a minute of the Group A game, as Ishfaq Ahmed latched on to a fine pass from Rauf Khan and set up an unmarked Barreto. The Brazilian banged a rasping right footer into the net.
Bagan kept up the momentum and in the 11th minute a James Singh corner was headed by Douglas da Silva to compatriot Barreto, who nodded into the goal off the post.
The scoreline became 3-0 seven minutes later, as Barreto found the target yet again following a James Singh free-kick from the right.
In Group A, East Bengal started off their Shield campaign in attacking style, but the lack of cohesion in their ranks became palpable as time progressed and Mahindra slowly started wresting the initiative.
The visitors increased the pressure and at one point of time got half a dozen corners at a stretch, as the East Bengal defence looked rudderless.
The first goal came from a move initiated by Yakubu, who passed on to Rafi. East Bengal defender Bolaji fumbled in trying to tackle Rafi, and the Mahindra player put the ball home.
The scoreline became 2-0 six minutes later following a combined move, that once again saw a Yakubu-Rafi duet. Yakubu played wall with Edward Mensah and brilliantly dodged past Jayanta Sen before passing on to Rafi, who addressed a floater back to Yakubu and the latter headed in.
East Bengal switched to a defence mode in the second half, as Mahindra carried out a series of moves into the rival territory. They came close to scoring once, but Rafi blew over.
The Churchill-Mohammedan group A clash was at best mediocre. The Goans were the better team on view, but they failed to convert the couple of chances which came their way.
The modest turnout at the Howrah Municipal Corporation stadium went home disappointed, with the two sides playing at a slow pace and managing to create only a few good moves.
