Manipur confirm Santosh Trophy semifinal spot, Odisha stay in hunt

Odisha still in the fight for the second spot after a narrow victory.

Two late goals from Odisha were enough for them to get a win in Group B as they beat Gujarat 3-2 in the 75th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy 2022 at the Manjeri Payyanad Stadium here on Saturday.  

On a rain-soaked evening, both teams displayed remarkable skill and patience to strive and play passing football. Odisha were the orchestrator for most of it. Right from the off their wingers put Gujarat under constant pressure. They dominated the possession, continuously switching play and keeping their opponents guessing. 

In the fourth minute, SK Farid took a shot from distance, chancing his luck, having seen the Gujarat goalkeeper off his line. His shot sailed wide. Within minutes though came a better opportunity. Some brilliant interlinked play between Farid and Jamie Oram saw the latter released into space on the right of the box. The winger delayed his cross perfectly, before driving it low toward the centre towards Kartik Hantal. Instead of choosing to tap it in cleanly, or even take a touch and set himself up, Hantal tried a cheeky flick, which weakly drifted out of touch. 

Odisha kept the pressure up, Gujarat dropping deeper within their own area, Jay Kanani often isolated high. The pressure also frayed tempers as Rudrarajsinh Jadeja picked up a yellow card for a bad challenge near the centre circle. In the 15th minute, Hantal was guilty of another miss yards from goal, and within seconds, Pravin Tigga, played through by Chandra Muduli’s delicate chip did the same, shooting wide when clear towards goal. 

The rain and the misses took their toll as Gujarat pressed back cautiously, using the long ball to great effect when launching counters. Odisha’s defence were being kept on their toes. In the 37th finally, the deadlock was broken. Odisha had maintained possession through the half and off a corner, Siddharth Nair botched his clearing header straight into the path of Chandra Muduli right in the centre of goal.

Muduli was placed perfectly but still had a lot to do. The ball had bounced up awkwardly and the midfielder showed great technique to whip it into the left corner of the net on the volley. His team had a deserved lead in an important Santosh trophy match. 

Odisha and Muduli had multiple opportunities soon after to double their tally, but the midfielder was guilty of shooting wide. The teams went into the break separated by that single goal.

Gujarat came into the second half with more desire and verve, seizing possession, putting their opponents under pressure, and constantly moving the ball around. Their passing in the final third though, let them down. The closest they came in their period of dominance was in the 49th minute when Nair let fly from 40 yards out, only for the ball to bounce awkwardly and skid off the wet surface. SK Kamaluddin was scrambling to try and save it and was grateful to see it drift wide.

The game soon descended into a pattern where Odisha kept Gujarat at an arm's distance without actually doing much of the ball when they had it. It was a dangerous ploy, and they soon paid for it. When Gujarat did score the equaliser it came off a half-chance like no other.

A long ball was half-cleared by Prabin Tigga, only to fall into the path of Mohmadmaruf Ismail Mulla. The forward delicately chested it down into the path of Prabaldeep Khare, who hit a first-time sliced volley into the far corner, perfect and out of Kamaluddin's reach. Gujarat were level.

In the 87th minute, Tigga's chipped ball forward was gathered by Arapan Lakra inside the box. The pass and the movement had forced Ajmal Eranjhikkal way off his line. The goalkeeper chased the midfielder down. Lakra kept his cool though, dragged the ball wide, and crossed towards the centre.

A charging Muduli met it to head it into an empty net. They had the lead again. A minute later, Odisha wrapped the game up, Hantal putting Raisen Tudu through on goal. The forward instead of running the distance unleashed a perfect shot into the bottom corner to take them 3-1 up.

Gujarat won a penalty in injury time, after a needless Odisha challenge on Khare inside the box. Jay Kanani displayed calm beyond his young years to score and reduce the deficit. The kick though was the last of the game and Odisha is still alive in Group B of the Santosh trophy for giving a tough fight for the second spot.

Manipur breeze past Karnataka

Manipur eased past Karnataka 3-0 in a Group B match of the 75th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at the Kottapadi Stadium in Malappuram here on Saturday. By this win, they became the first team from Group B to make the semifinals as they joined hosts Kerala. Manipur coach Gift Raikhan had said that his instruction to his players was to go all out right from the start and ensure qualification to the last four and his team delivered. Three goals in the first half itself with Lunminlen Haokip running the show.

The first goal of the game came from a terrible mistake by young Darshan L at left-back. He tried to pass back to his keeper Jayanthkumar Krishnamurthy but his loose pass was intercepted by an alert Somishon Shirak. He looked up and picked out an onrushing Lunminlen Haokip who made no mistake as Manipur took the lead in the 19th minute.

Lunminlen Haokip could have scored another in the space of a few minutes. Darshan L was the culprit again as he lost out to Somishon Shirak who once again found his teammate inside the box. But this time Haokip's shot went straight to the keeper who fumbled the first time but eventually held on.

These defensive errors sparked Karnataka into life and they had two quick-fire chances to equalise. Poor goalkeeping from Manipur's Angomjambam Chingkhei Meitei meant a half-chance fell to Bavu Nishad TP but his shot was cleared by Thiyam Chingkheinganba.

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Karnataka looked to play on the counter and their best chance fell to Solaimalai N but his powerful shot was saved somehow by the Manipur goalie. As Karnataka pushed more and more forward in search of the equaliser, they left too many gaps in midfield and Manipur soon took advantage.

A chipped-through ball from Ngulgoulal Singsit found Haokip who broke the off-side trap. He still had a lot to do from there but with some sublime skills, he completely fooled Siju S and then toe-poked it past the onrushing keeper to extend Manipur's lead in the 42nd minute.

Karnataka players seemed deflated after conceding the second and they let their heads drop. And Manipur punished them even further for such a lapse in a competition like the Santosh trophy. A through ball found Somishon Shirak in acres of space. His first shot was saved superbly by Jayanthkumar Krishnamurthy but Shirak poked home the rebound to make it three goals without reply right at the stroke of half-time.

Karnataka had a chance to reduce the arrears after a mistimed header from Manipur defender Laishram Chingkheinganba completely fooled his own keeper as it looped over his outstretched hands. Luckily for Manipur, the ball hit the crossbar and the rebound was collected by a grateful Angomjambam Chingkhei Meitei.

In the second half, Manipur were content to hold their shape and try to hit Karnataka on the break. The Karnataka players did put up a much-improved display in the second forty-five minutes but they had nothing to show for their efforts in the Santosh trophy match. Kamalesh P and Solaimalai N both had shots from range but the Manipur keeper saved on both occasions.

Karnataka tried to utilise crosses from the flanks in a bid to come back into the game. One such cross Prashanth Kalinga found Solaimalai N in space inside the box but the midfielder failed to get his header on target. The win meant Manipur now have nine points after four games and have secured progress to the last four. Karnataka, having played three, have four points to show for their efforts.

They are still in with a shout but need to win their final Santosh trophy game against Gujarat on Monday and hope for other results to go their way if they are to have a chance of making the semis.

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