Mohun Bagan’s Sahal Abdul Samad helped himself to three goals in the first half.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Mohun Bagan Super Giant topped Group A of the 135th Durand Cup in style with a commanding 6-0 win over CISF Protectors at the Kishore Bharati Stadium on Monday.Sahal Abdul Samad starred with a hat-trick, while Manvir Singh, Jamie Maclaren and Tekcham Abhishek Singh scored once each as the Mariners completed a perfect group-stage campaign with three wins from three matches.Sahal opened the scoring in the 17th minute after being set up by Liston Colaco and doubled the lead two minutes later from a Dezan Drazic pass. Manvir made it 3-0 in the 24th minute before Sahal completed his hat-trick with a spectacular solo effort in the 37th. Substitute Maclaren added the fifth in the 68th minute, with Abhishek completing the rout five minutes later.Bagan, which had beaten South United FC 8-0 in its previous game, confirmed a quarterfinal place as the group topper with nine points. East Bengal FC finished second with six points.Meanwhile, Sporting Club Delhi thrashed Indian Air Force 7-1 in a Group C match at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Ranchi to top the group with three successive wins and confirm a last-eight spot.The results: Group A (Kolkata): Mohun Bagan SG 6 (Sahal Abdul Samad 17, 19, 37, Manvir Singh 24, Jamie Maclaren 68, Abhishek Singh 73) bt CISF Protectors 0.Group C (Ranchi): Sporting Club Delhi 7 (Rodrigo Da Silva 11, Juan Sebastian Pena 38, 65, Duvan Viafara 54, Lalrinliana Hnamte 63, Clarence Savio 79, Richard Ndayishimiye 90+4) bt Indian Air Force 1 (Samuel Vanlalpeka 49). Published - August 10, 2026 10:01 pm IST
