Kolkata: Mohun Bagan Super Giant kicked off their title defence with a 3-1 thrashing of Punjab FC in the Indian Super League, here on Saturday.Following a delayed start, Mohun Bagan dominated the proceedings against the I-League promoted side and had a 2-0 cushion going into the half-time with goals from Jason Cummings (ninth) and Dimitri Petratos (34th).

After the changeover, Luka Majcen (53rd) pulled one back from a sloppy back pass by Glan Martins.

But it was not enough as Mohun Bagan pumped in another through Indian forward Manvir Singh (63rd) to start the season on an emphatic note.

Set up by Indian midfielder Sahal Abdul Samad, Cummings took a left-footed strike from the right side of the six-yard box to give the Mariners an early lead, which was doubled through Petratos, who utilised a pass from Liston Colaco before launching his left-footed shot into the bottom right corner.

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Minutes after he was brought in as a replacement for Subhasish Bose, Manvir used a Petratos cross to shoot to the top left corner with his powerful right-footed strike.

The match was delayed by 35 minutes to avoid broadcasting issues as the first match of the day between Odisha FC and Chennaiyin FC was interrupted due to bad weather.

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To avoid a clash of telecast, the second match of the Saturday double-header was deferred by 35 minutes.

Goals in either halves by Jerry Mawihmingthanga and Diego Mauricio helped Odisha defeat Chennaiyin 2-0 to start their campaign on a winning note.

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