FOOTBALL
Santosh Trophy: Bengal secures quarter-finals after victory over Rajasthan
Bengal secured a place in the quarter-finals of the 78th National Senior Football Championship with a 2-0 victory over Rajasthan, while Manipur drew with Jammu and Kashmir at the Deccan Arena on Wednesday.
Bengal, 32-time champions, has nine points from three matches and Manipur has seven points from three. J&K scored their first point of the season in the final round.
Bengal scored on either side of the break to beat Rajasthan 2-0.
Rabilal Mandi (45-footer) opened the scoring minutes before the first-half whistle, pulling the trigger from long range and hitting the bottom corner of the goal.
Mandi delivered a phenomenal cross from the right side, which was converted by Shreshtha (56 min) and scored Rajasthan’s second goal.
In the second match, Manipur, after back-to-back wins against defending champions Services (1-0) and Rajasthan (2-1), needed a win against J&K to reach the knockout stages.
After a strong start, Naoroibam Romen Singh (45+2′) took the lead in the added time of the first half, when Shunjanthan Ragui headed a free kick into the goal.
To Manipur’s dismay, Aakif Javaid scored in stoppage time with a header from a corner to equalize the score in the final minutes.
Results:
Manipur 1 (Naoroibam Romen Singh 47) drew with J&K 1 (Aakif Javaid 91)
Bengal 2 (Rabilal Mandi 45, Naro Hari Shreshtha 56) bt Rajasthan 0
– Sportstar Team
