Bhubaneswar, Apr 24 (PTI) Moroccan striker Alaaeddine Ajaraie struck a brilliant hat-trick as NorthEast United FC demolished Mohammedan Sporting 6-0 to enter the Kalinga Super Cup quarterfinals here on Thursday.

Indian Super League’s highest goal-getter Ajaraie scored in the 18th, 57th and 90+2 minutes, while Jithin MS (3rd), Nestor Albiach Roger (42nd) and Guillermo Fernandez Hierro (66th) also found the target for NorthEast United in the completely one-sided match.

In the other match of the day, Jamshedpur FC beat Hyderabad FC 2-0 to also enter the quarterfinals.

Goals from Javier Siverio (39th minute) and Stephen Eze (64th) ensured a comfortable passage for the Men of Steel, who will now face NorthEast United in the quarter-finals.

In the first match, NorthEast United took the lead with a goal in the third minute. Jithin MS capitalised on some lacklustre Mohammedan defending to smartly volley Nestor Albiach’s cross from inside the six-yard box and give his side the lead.

Mohammedan slowly grew into the game and in the 12th minute, Lalremsanga had the best chance for his side, after being played through on the right side of the box by a wavy Robi Hansda run. The angle was acute and yet the winger took a shot which was parried to safety by Gurmeet in NorthEast’s goal.

NorthEast United smartly got a second goal in the 18th minute via the boots of the ISL’s top scorer Ajaraie. Guillermo Hierro played a square pass to the Moroccan outside the box, and with just a body turn, Ajaraie left his marker for dead, before driving into the box and calmly finishing in the far corner.

Ajaraie looked to have repaid the favour with a perfectly weighted cross delivered to Guillermo in the box. But, the Spaniard’s header drifted just wide.

The Highlanders added a third three minutes before the break, when Jithin stole the ball off Mohammedan’s attempts to play from the back and squared a simple pass to Albiach. The Spaniard slammed his shot low and hard into the bottom corner to ease NorthEast into the comfort zone.

North East’s complete dominance extended into the second half, and just before the hour mark, Ajaraie made it four. A low fizzing cross from Guillermo was directed towards goal by a sliding Thoi Singh only for Subhajit Bhattacharjee to make a smart reflex save. Unfortunately for him, the rebound fell straight to Ajaraie who slammed it in from two yards out.

Robi Hansda almost pulled a miraculous goal back for Mohammedan, latching on to a cross 30 yards from goal and audaciously chipping Gurmeet, who was off his line. The ball bounced off the crossbar. NorthEast added a fifth in the 66th minute, Guillermo finishing smartly after Ajaraie had played a brilliant pass to put him through on goal.

With the game effectively wrapped up, the entire focus was on whether Ajaraie would get a hat-trick, and he duly did, converting an injury-time penalty to complete the rout. PTI PDS AH PDS ATK