East Bengal delivered a commanding performance against Inter Kashi at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, with a 5-1 victory in the ISL-13 match on Friday.
Ake Loba scored a brace while Dani Ramirez, PV Vishnu and Lukasz Zwolinski also found the back of the net. Inter Kashi’s lone strike came when rival defender Lalchungnunga scored an own goal.
After two matches, the defending champions are on top of the table with six points. They have already scored nine goals.
The visitors made a dominant start, with in-form Ramirez opening the scoring in the eighth minute.
Antonio Lopez Habas’s men doubled their advantage in the 16th minute through Vishnu, who finished a swift counterattack with a left-footed strike into the bottom-left corner.
East Bengal extended their lead in the 22nd minute when Loba converted a penalty. East Bengal continued their attacking approach, with Loba completing his brace to make it 4-1 before half-time.
In the second half, coach Habas made changes, substituting key players Rashid, Loba and Vipin Singh to give the young players some minutes.
Lukasz Zwolinski came off the bench and scored his first goal of the ISL in the 81st
minute.