Karnataka advance to Santosh Trophy semis, Services finish with win

Defending champions Services bowed out with win over Odisha.

Defending champions Services got the better of Odisha 2-0, thanks to two second-half goals in a Group B game of the 75th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy 2022 at the Kottappadi Football Stadium in Malappuram. The result means Odisha will have to wait for the outcome of the Karnataka-Gujarat game to find out who makes it through to the semifinals of the tournament.

Odisha, needing a point to secure qualification, started the game brighter and dominated proceedings in the first half. The first chance of the Santosh Trophy game fell to left winger Chandra Muduli. After some fine build-up play by Odisha, who kept the ball on the ground for the most part of the game, Chandra Muduli got the ball with space to run into. He whipped in a dangerous ball inside the box but Kartik Hantal could not get any sort of contact to divert the ball goalwards.

Another presentable chance fell to the young winger Chandra this time in the 40th minute. A through ball from the Odisha midfield was chased down by the pacey winger, who managed to outrun two defenders but his final touch let him down and allowed Services goalkeeper Subhajit Basu to close him down in the nick of time. The rebound fell to Kartik Hantal but he failed to hit the rebound on target as the ball trickled wide.

Kartik Hantal was put clear through on goal but the young forward took too much time to settle which allowed Services defender Zothanpuia to put in a brilliant last ditch tackle to take the ball off the attacker's feet at the last moment. This did not deter Kartik Hantal as he kept trying hard and he came closest to handing Odisha a well deserved lead. His left footed effort from a narrow angle in the 42nd minute rattled the crossbar and ensured both teams headed into the break goalless.

Services' Mohammad Danish had a half chance wherein he cut in from the left wing and tried to curl the ball towards the top right corner but it went narrowly wide. Odisha's defensive gameplan seemed to be working with Services hardly having any noteworthy attempts until the 74th minute.

The ball fell to left back Sunil B, whose pinpoint cross was met by a towering header from skipper Vivek Kumar and his header went beyond the reach of a diving Chinmaya Sekhar Behera. That goal suddenly sucked all the fight away from Odisha and they seemed to lose their heads. They almost let in a comical own goal after miscommunication between Chinmaya Sekhar Behera and defender Prabin Tigga but somehow the goalie managed to spare his team's blushes.

And it got worse for Odisha soon after. Another fine run from Sunil B ended in the defender trying to cross into a dangerous area. The Odisha defenders managed to block the cross but the rebound fell to substitute Nikhil Sharma who made no mistake in dispatching the ball goalwards. If that was not all, towards the end of the game, Odisha defender Abhishek Rawat saw a straight red card.

Odisha had one final chance to reduce the margin of defeat in the match of Santosh Trophy. Arapan Lakra's free-kick beat the wall and goalkeeper Subhajit Basu but it thundered off the upright as the match ended 2-0 in the defending champions' favour.

Karnataka makes semifinals in style

Karnataka capped off a dramatic final game in Group B to beat Gujarat 4-0 and qualify for the semi-finals of the 75th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at the Manjeri Payyanad Football Stadium. 

Services' victory over Odisha earlier in the day had upset the comfortable apple cart that was this group. The math, leading into this final group stage game was simple. Karnataka needed to win by a three goal margin to go through. 

For the first half an hour of the game, Gujarat were barely allowed to breathe. In the fourth minute of the game, even as the football hungry crowd was settling into the Manjeri Payyanad, Karnataka had their first crack at the goal, Sudheer Kotikela shooting wide from a tight angle.  

Eight minutes later, they had the lead, Sudheer Kotikela picking up a brilliantly played through ball from midfield, driving into the box from the right, and unleashing a perfect finish into the bottom far corner. His team had the lead, but Kotikela realising the need for more, refused to celebrate, picking the ball up and urging his teammates towards the restart. 

Wave upon wave of Karnataka attacks descended on the Gujarat goal, their defenders sliding, twisting, and heading balls away constantly. n the 19th minute, off a half-cleared corner, Kotikela found himself with the ball at the edge of the box. The forward set himself up, opening his body, looking to curl the ball towards the top right corner. Unfortunately, he blazed high and wide. 

Gujarat offered some attacking vigour of their own, Anirudhsinh Thakor crossing superbly into the Karnataka box in the 23rd minute, the ball curling into dangerous area yards from goal. If Jay Kanani had been a step faster it would've been the equaliser, but it wasn't to be. Karnataka took it personally and stepped up the ante. 

In the 28th, P Kamalesh, a twinkle-toed midfielder with a flair unlike any other, collected a square pass from D Arun Kumar at the edge of the Gujarat area, switched feet, cutting past Harshil Parekh and Muhammed Sagar Ali as if they weren't even there, before opening up his body and curling for the right corner of goal. His shot was perfect, and the finish glorious. Karnataka were two to the good. 

Within minutes, they had their crucial third. Prashanth Kalinga ran into space on the right and curled a superb cross into a dangerous area in Karnataka's box. Despite being sandwiched by two defenders, Kotikela, five yards from goal, sent a first-time finish into the net. His team were in rapture. And on a rampage. Suddenly, with just half an hour gone, Karnataka were dreaming of the semi-finals in the Santosh Trophy. 

They could've confirmed it in the first half itself, Kamalesh's footwork causing the Gujarati defence all kinds of problems in dangerous areas. The teams went into halftime with Karnataka leading by three goals to nothing. 

Gujarat came out for the second half with a little more urgency. Having had no shots on goal in the first half, completely overwhelmed by Karnataka's play, they sought to play themselves into the tie. For the most part, they succeeded, their wingers moving much better and producing better balls for Jay Kanani to have a go with. 

In the 52nd the youngster almost pulled one back, played through clean on goal, with only the goalkeeper to beat. A goal then would've turned the tie inside out and the group too. As it was though, S Siju was at hand, the defender putting in a heroic tackle to take the ball off Kanani and save Karnataka the blushes. 

Much like it had in the first half, the half-chance spurred Karnataka into action, as they took control of the ball with more ferocity. Right on the hour mark, a cross from D Arun Kumar on the left, dropped the ball perfectly to Magesh Selva in the box. The forward didn't miss, connecting neatly to put Karnataka in dreamland. 

They stayed there for the remaining third of the game, controlling possession brilliantly, creating chances and threatening to score more, all while keeping Gujarat at safe distance. At the referee's final whistle it was jubilation, in the stands and on the pitch.