Midfielder Jithin Gopalakrishnan scored twice as Kerala crushed Jammu and Kashmir 6-1 for its second win in the Group ‘A’ league of the 77 th Santosh Trophy National football championship at the SAG Benaulim Ground, Benaulim, on Friday.
Kerala, which blanked Gujarat 3-0 in its opener on Wednesday, is now on top of the five-team group with six points from two wins. Former champion Kerala meets Chhatisgarh next on October 15.
GUJARAT HOLDS GOA
Meanwhile host Goa, which beat Chhatisgarh 1-0 in its opener earlier, was forced to a 1-1 draw by Gujarat in another Group ‘A’ match on Friday. That result should now make Kerala a favourite to top the top.
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There were some surprises in Group ‘B’ where Haryana forced 32-time champion West Bengal to a goalless draw at Phagwara while Delhi shocked Punjab 1-0 at Banga. Delhi is now on top of the six-team Group ‘B’ with seven points from three matches while Bengal (5 points, 1 win, 2 draws) is in the third spot, behind Odisha (6 points).
The group toppers will automatically qualify for the 12-team main phase which will be held in Arunachal Pradesh later this year. Three of the best second-placed teams from the six groups will also enter the final phase and joining them will be defending champion Karnataka, last edition’s runner-up Meghalaya and host Arunachal Pradesh.
The results (league):
Group A (at Benaulim): Kerala 6 (Jithin Gopalakrishnan 8 & 55; E. Sajeesh 14, Muhammed Ashiq Shoukathali 45+1, K. Abdu Raheem 67, Riswanali Edakkavil 74) bt Jammu & Kashmir 1 (Faizal Maqsood Thakur 61). Goa 1 (Jobern Cardozo 90+9) drew with Gujarat 1 (Chunsaba Bariam 58).
Group B (at Banga and Phagwara): Odisha 5 (Chandra Muduli 16 & 40; Fagu Hembram 22, Arpan Lakra 81, Raisen Tudu 87) bt Ladakh 0; Delhi 1 (Mohit Mittal 32) bt Punjab 0; Haryana 0 drew with West Bengal 0.
Group F (Kolhapur): Maharashtra 8 (Nikhil Kadam 19 & 21, Himanshu Patil 27 & 45; Johnson Joseph Mathews 30, Advai
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