U20 men's football nationals: Contrasting wins for Haryana, Kerala

Narainpur (Chhattisgarh), May 5 (IANS) Haryana and Kerala continued their winning run in Group D of the Swami Vivekananda U20 Men’s National Football Championship when they defeated Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, respectively, at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama ground on Sunday.

While Haryana had to fight it out to beat Gujarat 2-1, the task proved much easier for Kerala, who outclassed Andhra Pradesh 6-0 after leading by three goals at halftime. Haryana and Kerala will now meet on Tuesday to decide the group winners for a last-eight spot. Both teams have six points each, but Haryana are ahead on goal difference.

Haryana bagged their second straight win when they edged Gujarat 2-1 after a goalless first half. Gujarat had themselves to blame for leaving the ground empty-handed, as they put up a spirited fight and even missed a spot kick. Haryana defender Pawan put his team in the lead in the 49th minute with a curling free kick from the right side of the rival box that caught Gujarat goalkeeper Taksh Patel napping.

Gujarat restored parity in the 80th minute; a defensive lapse saw opportunistic striker Manashveersingh B Khaitan, who was left unmarked, tap the ball in. Gujarat missed a golden opportunity to take the lead when they wasted a penalty awarded to them. Stenis Touthang fumbled while taking the shot and sent the ball well over the crossbar. It cost Gujarat dear. In the 90th minute, Veer Gahlaut made the most of a counterattack to net the winner for Haryana.

Kerala score six past A.P.

The Kerala versus Andhra Pradesh outing was a monotonously one-sided affair as Andhra Pradesh failed to live up to the challenge of the rival attackers. Kerala opened the scoring in the 13th minute when Ahammed Anfas jumped high to head the ball in off a cross from the right.

Twenty minutes later, Akshay Kumar Subedi weaved past the Andhra defence to get into the box. He then passed the ball neatly for Ajin A to finish the job.

One more goal came during the add-on time of the first half. Yet another cross from the right left the Andhra Pradesh defenders fumbling and all Rijoy P. Chacko did was follow the ball and push it into the net. Three more goals came in the second session. While Ajin A. scored his second goal of the day in the 73rd minute, Akhish Cyril (80’) and Shanu Stellus (84’) got the other two goals.

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