West Bengal overcame an indifferent start to blank Rajasthan 3-0 and entered the semifinals of the Santosh Trophy National Football Championship at the Kottappadi Football stadium here on Sunday.
Bengal's win rendered the Punjab-Meghalaya tie in the evening as inconsequential. However, Punjab ended its campaign with a solitary goal win over Megahalaya. After a barren first half, Amarpreet Singh scored the all important goal in the 46th minute.
It met unexpected resistance from Rajasthan, which managed to keep a blank sheet in the first half. But Bengal came out blazing in the second half to break Rajasthan’s resilience and notch up its third win.
Fardin Ali Molla (46’, 60’) and Sujit Singh (80’) scored the goals.
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Bengal earned numerous chances in the first half but its strikers misfired and squandered all of them.
The team scored from its first offensive move in the second half. The goal came through a penalty when Rajasthan defender Lakshya Dev Singh tripped Dilip Orawan inside the box. Fardin Ali Molla made no mistake from the spot kick to put Bengal ahead in the 46th minute. Bengal increased the lead in the 60th minute when Fardin volleyed home a rebound after Rajasthan goalkeeper Gajraj Singh blocked the first shot taken by Sujit Singh.
However, Sujit Singh couldn’t be denied a deserving goal when he crashed a left-footed volley from top of the box into the far post to complete the tally in the 80th minute.
- West Bengal 3 (Fardin Ali Molla 46, 60, Sujit Singh 80) bt Rajasthan 0.
- Punjab 1 (Amarpreet SIngh 46) bt Meghalaya 0.
- Monday’s matches: Odisha v Services (Malappuram) 4.p.m., Karnataka v Services (Manjeri) 8 p.m.
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