<p>Colombian striker Stiven Mendoza fired in his second hat-trick of the season as hosts Chennaiyin FC crushed Kerala Blasters 4-1 in an Indian Super League football encounter, here today.<br /><br />After Dhanachandra Singh opened the scoring in the 3rd minute, Mendoza scored in the 16th, 80th and 81st minute to ensure full points for the Abhishek Bachchan co-owned franchise. Mendoza now is at the top of the goalscorers' Tally with 9 strikes to his name.<br />The win also took their points tally to 13 from 11 games and Chennaiyin jumped to the 6th spot, keeping faint hopes of qualifying for the semi-final alive.<br /><br />Blasters languish at the bottom of the table with 11 points from as many matches.<br />The floodgates opened as early as the 3rd minute, when left-back Dhanachandra Singh overlapped and unleashed a volley that beat goalkeeper Stephen Bywater convincingly.<br />It soon became 2-0 in the 16th minute when Mendoza's curling volley from the edge of 18-yard box beat Bywater.</p>.<p><br />The home team went into break with their 2-0 lead intact and pressed hard in the second half.</p>.<p><br />The fate of the match was sealed when Mendoza scored his second goal of the match and made it 3-0.<br /><br />In the 80th minute, it was a through pass that he received from Harmanjyot Singh Khabra at the edge of the box and then beat the Blasters custodian with a deft left-footed strike taken with the outstep.</p>.<p><br />Only a minute later, Blasters' miseries were compounded as Mendoza completed a well-deserved hat-trick when he neatly slotted it past Bywater in a one-to-one situation.<br /><br />It was in the 90th minute that Anthony German pulled one back with a shot that deflected off Dhanchandra and changed the course catching Chennaiyin goalie Edel Bete on the wrongfoot before going into the net. </p>
<p>Colombian striker Stiven Mendoza fired in his second hat-trick of the season as hosts Chennaiyin FC crushed Kerala Blasters 4-1 in an Indian Super League football encounter, here today.<br /><br />After Dhanachandra Singh opened the scoring in the 3rd minute, Mendoza scored in the 16th, 80th and 81st minute to ensure full points for the Abhishek Bachchan co-owned franchise. Mendoza now is at the top of the goalscorers' Tally with 9 strikes to his name.<br />The win also took their points tally to 13 from 11 games and Chennaiyin jumped to the 6th spot, keeping faint hopes of qualifying for the semi-final alive.<br /><br />Blasters languish at the bottom of the table with 11 points from as many matches.<br />The floodgates opened as early as the 3rd minute, when left-back Dhanachandra Singh overlapped and unleashed a volley that beat goalkeeper Stephen Bywater convincingly.<br />It soon became 2-0 in the 16th minute when Mendoza's curling volley from the edge of 18-yard box beat Bywater.</p>.<p><br />The home team went into break with their 2-0 lead intact and pressed hard in the second half.</p>.<p><br />The fate of the match was sealed when Mendoza scored his second goal of the match and made it 3-0.<br /><br />In the 80th minute, it was a through pass that he received from Harmanjyot Singh Khabra at the edge of the box and then beat the Blasters custodian with a deft left-footed strike taken with the outstep.</p>.<p><br />Only a minute later, Blasters' miseries were compounded as Mendoza completed a well-deserved hat-trick when he neatly slotted it past Bywater in a one-to-one situation.<br /><br />It was in the 90th minute that Anthony German pulled one back with a shot that deflected off Dhanchandra and changed the course catching Chennaiyin goalie Edel Bete on the wrongfoot before going into the net. </p>