National Games: Kerala & Maharashtra win, edge closer to semi-final

Both teams have four points now

Kerala and Maharashtra took a strong step towards their goal to reach the semi-finals of Men’s Football in the 37th National Games at Goa on Thursday, November 2, 2023, when they won their respective Group B matches.

In the day’s first match at Fatorda, Maharashtra edged Meghalaya 2-1 with two first half goals from Mandeep Singh Multani and Avdit. Meghalaya pulled one back through Mylliempdah, but Maharashtra succeeded in holding on to their slim lead, to take their points tally to four points from two encounters.

In the day’s other match, Kerala withstood the initial resistance from Manipur to win 3-1. After Arun V put Kerala in the lead in the seventh minute, Manipur levelled the score within two minutes through Pebam Renedy Singh.

However, Manipur had no answer when Kerala struck twice more through Muhammed Ashiq Shoukathli and Abdhu Raheem to seal the issue in their favour. Kerala too have four points, but they are currently the group toppers because of a better goal difference.