Former Champions Punjab rallied from a goal down to beat Odisha 2-1 to open their campaign in the 72nd Santosh Trophy on Tuesday at the Sailen Manna Sports Complex in Howrah.
After a barren first-half, Odisha took the lead in the 62nd minute through Arpan Lakra only for Sarbjit to restore the parity for Punjab in the 70th minute. However, an own goal by Odisha’s Rudra Pratap Pradhan sealed full three points for the Kuldip Singh-coached Punjab side.
Both the teams started with caution, but it was Punjab who held the upper hand in the midfield. However, their strikers lacked coordination, with Baltej Singh and Prameet Jhutty failing to deliver the goods. Punjab had their first chance to go ahead in the 13th minute but Odisha defender D Srinath came to the rescue to make a goal line save.
At the other end, Odisha almost took the lead in the 24th minute through Bijay Behra but Punjab keeper Moses Anthony made a diving save to deny the young striker.
Punjab although were more organised in attack but could not penetrate deep into rival box as Odisha defenders kept Punjab strikers under check. Prameet, who was closely marked, had the best chance of the half but his attempt was collected by Odisha keeper Soumya Ranjan Das off a pass from Gurtej Singh in the 37th minute.
Meanwhile, Odisha came close to scoring twice late in the first half but Moses thwarted their attempts as the first half ended scoreless.
Odisha pushed Punjab on the backfoot in the second half and were all over the rival box but failed to find the target as Moses came out with good saves to deny Bijay and Arpan from scoring. However, Odisha’s persistent efforts finally bore fruit when Arpan found the back of the net just past the hour mark from Sunil Sardar’s pass.
Having conceded, Punjab showed urgency in front of the rival goal and managed to score the equaliser eight minutes later when skipper Sarbjit nodded from a corner to bring his side on level. Thereafter, it was all Punjab as they created havoc in the Odisha box. The young Odisha defenders also made some brilliant clearances to frustrate the Punjab attackers.
Nonetheless, Odisha’s luck finally ran out in the 82nd minute when Rudra Prasad scored an own goal while trying to clear Jagdip Singh’s goalbound attempt. Though Odisha had a number of chances to restore the parity in the remainder but Punjab defended valiantly to grab all three points at stake.
Punjab will face Mizoram on March 22 at Rabindra Sarobar Stadium while Odisha will face the same opponent at Howrah on 24 March.
Mizoram stun Goa
Mizoram completed a come-from-behind 3-1 victory over six-time champions Goa in their opening Group B game at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium in Kolkata.
Goa captain Victorino Fernandes opened the scoring in the 11th minute but F Lalrinpuia equalised in the 25th minute. Thereafter two quick goals from Lal Romawia in the 81st and 84th minutes helped the 2013-’14 champions clinch victory and all three points.
It did not take much time for the Western state to stamp their authority on the game. Marcus Mascarenhas ran from the left side to beat his marker and play a forward pass to India international Victorino Fernandes who made his way into the box to beat the Mizoram defenders and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Laltanpuia Ralte to break the deadlock.
The ‘home’ side for the game, Mizoram had their first notable moment in the 23rd minute. Lalbiakhlua’s cross from the right was missed by Lalremruata in the box but F.Lalrinpuia’s first-time shot was blocked well by defender Peter Carvalho.
Their efforts were rewarded a couple of minutes later when Lalrinpuia equalised. Lalbiakhlua’s shot was stopped by the ’keeper Ozen Vivian Silva and the loose ball fell to Lalrinpuia, fondly known as Valpuia. The striker’s first shot was blocked by a defender but he was successful in the second attempt to make the score line even again.
Lalrinpuia, for all his heroics went straight into the referee’s book in the 34th minute. A rough challenge on Mackroy Peixoto and referee Mithun Kumar Kundu did not hesitate to produce the first yellow card of the game.
Victorino tried another shot from long range but went over the bar and Lalremrauta missed twice from the box with only the ’keeper to beat in the other end as the first half ended 1-1.
After the break, Mizoram showed much more enthusiasm in the final third. In the 49th minute, Lalbiakhlua’s lob over the defence could have been converted by Lalremruata but his header from around 16 yards hit the crossbar and came off.
The Goans could not keep the ball with them much and the Northeastern side showed good promise to get another one. However, they showed-off some set-piece moves on the field where Peter Carvalho took a free-kick on the dummy and Peixoto ran towards the left but his cross did not catch Laltanpuia Ralte off-guard as the ’keeper parried off the effort.
In the 81st minute, La Romawia played a diagonal ball towards Lalbiakhlua and the cross from the right was headed down brilliantly by Lalremruata inside the box. The striker laid it off for Romawia who netted the ball past the ’keeper’s left side.
Romawia was at the right space in the right time yet again when he got the ball from outside the box, went in and shot past to seal the game with the Goan defense already shutting down after the setback.
Mizoram went on top of the group with with three points and lead Punjab on a better goal difference. They play Odisha next on Thursday and Goa would hope for a better show when they face Karnataka on the same day.
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