Santosh Trophy: Manipur move to top ; Mizoram, Railways register wins

Itanagar: Former winner Manipur climbed to the top of Group B in the Final Round of the National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy 2024, after beating defending champions Karnataka 1-0 at the Golden Jubilee Stadium, here on Monday.

The side from the Northeast has now collected seven points from their three games, and are three points clear atop Group B. Ngangbam Pacha Singh scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot in the 50th minute. While Manipur held more possession of the ball, Karnataka looked to work the ball out wide and create an overload in the box for the crosses.

Mizoram produced a near-flawless performance against Delhi in their third Santosh Trophy game on Monday, registering a 5-1 victory at the Golden Jubilee Stadium. M.C Malsawmzuala and Malsawmzuala Tlangte scored two each in the first half, before MS Dawngliana netted one in the second half, to make it five for them. Mohit Mittal pulled one back for Delhi in second-half injury time, but the damage was already done. This result means that Mizoram draw level with Delhi, both of whom are on four points from three matches.

Railways, who began the day at the bottom of Group B, managed to get themselves back into contention for knockout qualification with a slender 2-1 victory against Maharashtra. Subrata Murmu put Railways in the lead in the 11th minute, before Maharashtra captain Nikhil Kadan equalised minutes before the half-time break. However, Rajesh produced a sublime glancing header at the near post, to score the winner for Railways in the 73rd minute.

Railways, after this win, also moved to four points from three matches, while Maharashtra remain on three points from as many games. IANS

Also Read: Santosh Trophy: Manipur move to the top defeats Karnataka by 1-0 at Itanagar

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