Talented midfielder Cajetan Fernandes put Salgaocar ahead but a self goal from the boots of rival defender Gurpreet Singh helped the Mumbai outfit to get on level terms but after the breather Muritala put on a splendid show to hand a drubbing for the local team. After an initial flourish which saw Mahindra United striker Muritala missing a sitter and Salgaocar’s new Nigerian recruit Ekene Ikenwa’s shot being desperately blocked by rival defender Denzil Franco the hosts who were urged on by their cheering supporters went ahead in the 21st minute through Cajetan Fernandes who trapped a low clearance of Mahindra stopper Ravanan about 35 yards out and unleashed a right footer which crashed into the nylons keeping rival keeper Subhashish Roy Chowdhury rooted to the ground. Salgaocar’s joy was however lasted for just three minutes as Mahindra winger Steven Dias’ innocuous cross was mistakenly poked into his own net by Salgaocar wing back Gurpreet Singh casting a gloom on local fans. The lucky goal totally converted Mahindra into an oppressive unit and Salgaocar goal survived some close moments as Muritala’s effort was somehow blocked by defender Peter Costa and a couple of minutes later Mohamed Rafi’s goal-bound shot was headed off the line by Salgaocar wing back Francis Fernandes. The fairly large gathering were expecting the local team to put up an improved display but it was not to be as Salgaocar fell behind six minutes after the restart as Mahindra left winger Paresh Shivalkar spotted the little run of Muritala inside the box and the Nigerian striker, receiving the pass, slammed the ball past a heavily exposed Kalyan Chaubey in the Salgaocar goal. Salgaocar never recovered from the blow and conceded the third in the 68th minute on a swift counter attack from the Mumbai rivals after a speedy Steven Dias covered a lot of space to feed Mohamed Rafi and the striker immediately laid the ball to his better positioned partner Muritala to do the rest. With a comfortable lead Mahindra were in total command of the proceedings and Muritala hammered the final nail in the Salgaocar coffin four minutes before the close to complete his hat-trick as well as the huge win for his team. The Nigerian striker was rightly adjudged the man-of-the-match. Muritala Ali scored the first hat-trick of this year’s I-League. Muritala, who was guilty of missing three chances earlier, put the visitor ahead when he beat defender Luciano Sobrosa and goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey and chipped the ball into the net off a pass from Paresh Shivalkar. Salgaocar’s defence was found wanting with custodian Kalyan Chaubey, who unnecessarily left his charge, being responsible for conceding two goals. GOALS SCORED 1-0 Cajetan Fernandes (22') 1-1 Gurpreet Singh (25', own goal) 1-2 Subair Muritala Ali (53') 1-3 Subair Muritala Ali (69') 1-4 Subair Muritala Ali (86')