Santosh Trophy: Jammu & Kashmir books quarterfinal spot with 1-0 win over Rajasthan; Manipur outplays Telangana

Santosh Trophy: Jammu & Kashmir books quarterfinal spot with 1-0 win over Rajasthan; Manipur outplays Telangana

Jammu and Kashmir secured a quarterfinal berth with a 1-0 win against Rajasthan in the Santosh Trophy senior national football championship at Deccan Arena on Monday.

In another match, Manipur outplayed Telangana, winning 3-1.

Jammu and Kashmir went into the match needing at least a draw to secure a knockout berth and managed to claim all three points, while Rajasthan needed a win and hoped for a Manipur victory over Telangana.

The first real chance of the game fell to Mukesh Kumar of Rajasthan, who poked a low cross wide of an open goal from 10 yards in the 6th minute. That was as good as it got for them, as Jammu and Kashmir slowly took control. In the 33rd minute, Aakif Javaid dribbled past a pair of defenders on the right, cut inside, and unleashed a shot from the top of the box that curved marginally wide.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 74th minute, thanks to Adnan Ayub’s brilliance. The forward picked up a loose ball 35 yards from goal, drove towards the box, and fired with his left foot. A diving Gaurav Kumar Singh could do little to stop the ball from finding the back of the net.

Jammu and Kashmir registered a valuable win that took them to the quarterfinals.

In the other match, Manipur took the lead when a short ball was picked up on the left, where Prabin Khangebam delivered a low cross into the box. Kangabam Lammgamba Singh was at hand to poke it in instinctively and give Manipur the lead against Telangana.

Telangana fought back well and scored the equalizer when Mohammed Amaan’s delightful spin and subsequent through ball was converted by Syed Imtiyaz Ahmed. However, Manipur dominated the second half, missing quite a few more scoring chances before Khullakpam Zahir Khan found the back of the net in the 85th minute with a left-footed strike into the bottom corner. Shoraisham Sagar Singh added a third minutes later to compound Telangana’s agony and cement Manipur’s win.

Jammu and Kashmir 1 (Adnan Ayub 74’) bt Rajasthan 0.

Manipur 3 (Kangabam Lammgamba Singh 16’, Khullakpam Zahir Khan 85’, Shoraisham Sagar Singh 87’) bt Telangana 1 (Syed Imtiyaz Ahmed 40’).