Chennaiyin FC will take a major advantage over Atletico de Kolkata into the away leg after opening their Indian Super League semifinal with a 3-0 win on Saturday.

Bruno Pelissari opened the scoring with a sharp free kick in the 38th minute.

The home side doubled their advantage in the second half after Stiven Mendoza ran down the win and centred for Jeje Lalpekhlua to tap in on 57 minutes.

And Mendoza wrapped up the victory with a goal of his own in the 68th minute when he was played in on goal by Jeje.

Chennaiyin captain Bernard Mendy then blocked two shots from Atletico's Dejan Lekic to preserve the three-goal lead ahead of Wednesday's second leg.