Notwithstanding the heartbreak of the ISL playoffs, the Highlanders fans got rights for the largest cheer in the pre-quarterfinals of Kalinga Super Cup with their star striker Alaaeddine Ajaraie scoring his first-ever hat-trick for the club as North East United FC routed Mohammedan Sporting 6-0 on a hot and humid afternoon in Bhubaneswar.
The treble from Ajaraie (18′, 57′, 90+3′), coupled with the opener from Jithin MS (3′) and strikes from Nestor Albiach (42′) and Guillermo Fernandez (66′) ensured that Juan Pedro Benali’s men romped to the quarterfinals with a show of confidence at Kalinga Stadium on Thursday.
It was a disappointing end to Mohammedan’s campaign that got very little time for preparation with Mehrajuddin Wadoo’s wards reaching the Odisha capital just three days back.
Later in the evening, a strong Jamshedpur FC contingent set up a quarterfinal with Benali’s NEUFC by beating Hyderabad FC 2-0 in the second match of the day.
Despite boasting a squad with all six foreigners, Khalid Jamil’s men faced a tough contest from the all-Indian Hyderabad side that stayed at the back to curb all of Jamshedpur’s efforts for a breakthrough.
The deadlock was broken just before the break when Ashutosh Mehta was fouled inside the box by Manoj Mohammed and Javier Siverio made no mistake in sending goalkeeper Arshdeep Singh the other way to convert from the spot.
It was a delightful move started by Siverio outside the box that led to a pass to Jordan Murray, who sent a low cross to an onrushing Stephen Eze who guided it into the goal. Replays, however, showed that the Nigerian was offside.
While NEUFC’s first and third goals were results of serious defensive lapses on the part of their rivals with an unmarked Jithin tapping in an Albiach cross inside the box in the third minute and the Spaniard turning scorer after another defensive error just before half-time, their second was a testament to the skill of Moroccan Ajaraie in front of goal.
The change of ends did not change the course of the game as the ISL Golden Boot winner powered in a rebound near goalmouth in the 57th minute and played provider to Spaniard Fernanadez nine minutes later.
Ajaraie completed his hat-trick from the spot after he was brought down inside the box in injury time.