JCT’s newest Brazilian import Eduardo Da Silva pumped in four goals to silence Assam Rifles in the pre-quarter finals of the Osian’s Durand Cup football tournament here at Dr Ambedkar Stadium today.

With the emphatic 5-0 win, JCT now set up a quarter final date with Salgaocar SC, who thrashed Viva Kerala 4-1 in the first match of the day.

The Ludhiana-based outfit performed like a well-oiled machine and hardly took any time in getting on with the proceedings. After some initial exchanges in the mid-field, skipper Julius Akpele put JCT in the lead, converting a rebound off the first corner of the match taken by Marcos Pereira in the 16th minute.

After delivering the initial blow, Akpele returned to his defence duties and it was here that Eduardo took over from his skipper. Another corner in the 30th minute, again by Pereira, and Assam Rifles goalkeeper Lokeswer Singh had no answers to Eduardo’s header.

The Assam team’s star striker Akum Ao got no escape route to get past the towering Akpele. The first shot at the JCT goal came after 32 minutes of play and that too sailed way over the bar.

There was no respite for the Assam team even after the breather. Their captain Naoba Singh compounded his team’s agony by conceding a penalty after a reckless charge on Praveen Kumar in the 52nd minute. And Eduardo made no mistake in making it 3-0. Another defensive error in the 66th minute fetched JCT a free-kick in a dangerous position just outside the box.

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