Santosh Trophy 2023-24: Goa book their spot in semis

Goa registered a comeback win to march into the Santosh Trophy semi-finals.

Goa and Services booked their respective spots in the Santosh Trophy semi-finals, by defeating Delhi and Railways, respectively, on Monday, March 4, 2024, at the Golden Jubilee Stadium, in Itanagar.

While Services have made it to the semis for the third time in the last four editions of the tournament, Goa have qualified to the last four for the first time in seven years.

In an even contest on a cool evening at the Golden Jubilee Stadium, Goa negotiated an early deficit to defeat Delhi in the second quarterfinal of the day.

Sahil Kumar gave Delhi the early lead in the 8th minute, but Goa clawed their way back in the first half itself and took the lead through goals from Jobern Cardozo (20’) and Lloyd Cardozo (29’).

A crafty side, Goa looked to amass possession in the Delhi half and play the ball around, while their opponents attempted a much more straightforward approach, looking to hit them on the break.

This approach paid dividends for Delhi early in the game, when they won a corner, which was whipped in by Dhruv Sharma. Mohd Aqib rose high at the far post and headed the ball across the face of the goal. Sahil, alert at the other side, nodded it in from inside the six-yard box.

If there was any complacency within Goa before, Delhi’s goal would have shocked every inch of it out of them. The side from the west coast exercised control over the game and looked to dominate Delhi, who, for a while, were doing well to keep them at bay.

Set-pieces were, however, the order of the day, as it was from two corners that Goa managed to turn the game around.

Delhi goalkeeper Raj Kumar Mahato attempted to punch Mahammed Faheez’s corner out, but a miscued fist meant that the ball landed in a meleé just outside the six-yard box. Jobern remained alert and blasted it into goal once the opportunity presented itself to him.

Just as the game was approaching the half-hour mark, Faheez produced a perfect delivery from the corner again, which landed just a yard ahead of Lloyd Cardozo at the near post. The midfielder half-volleyed it with his side foot to beat the Delhi keeper at the near post and put his side in the lead.

Goa could have doubled their lead when Faheez’s long-range shot was tipped onto the woodwork just before halftime by Mahato, who did brilliantly to save the follow-up shot on the rebound by Lloyd Cardozo from point-blank range.

Goa took control of the game in the second half, using their crafty play to keep Delhi from creating many chances. However, the side from the capital did get their chances, the best of which came 20 minutes from the final whistle, when Mohit Mittal hit the post from outside the box, before Sridarth Nongmeikapam’s free-kick just a minute later, was palmed away by a diving Antonio Dylan Inacio Da Silva.

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