KARACHI: Mohammad Mujahid scored four times and Mansoor Khan hit a hat-trick as Pakistan Air Force (PAF) taught Baloch FC Quetta a footballing lesson on Saturday, winning 9-0 to move five points behind Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) leaders Pakistan Army.

The rout of the basement side saw PAF move to 31 points from 16 games with Army on 36 having played two games more.

Three-time defending champions Khan Research Labor­atories (KRL), meanwhile, saw their title bid derailed after they fell 1-0 to Wapda in the day’s other match.

The defeat meant KRL remain on 24 points from 15 matches with Wapda moving two points ahead of them having played the same number of games.

In what promises to be a thrilling race to the finish, K-Electric are third with 29 points from 14 matches with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) fourth on 27 from 16.

With KRL having seven games of the season left to play, their title hopes are left hanging by a thread after Mohammad Asif scored the lone goal in the 66th minute at the Faisal Town Football Ground in Lahore.

Goals rained here at the Mohammad Ali Shah Stadium, though.

Mujahid opened the scoring in the fifth minute with Mansoor doubling PAF’s advantage in the 16th and Salman making it 3-0 two minutes later as PAF ripped apart the hapless Baloch FC side.

Mujahid then scored twice in the space of 11 minutes to complete his hat-trick before Salman scored his second in first-half injury time to put PAF 6-0 up at half-time.

Any respite Baloch FC hoped for after the break ended in the 56th with Mujahid scoring his fourth before Mansoor struck twice in the space of two minutes to round off the scoring in the 77th.

The defeat for winless Baloch FC was their 13th in 16 matches and they look likely to be relegated at the end of the season until their form changes dramatically.

Published in Dawn December 21th , 2014