Bhubaneswar: Kerala fought against Maharashtra in Santosh Trophy football. Against Maharashtra, who were leading by four goals to one in the first half, Kerala regained the game by scoring three more goals in the second half. Besides John Paul, Nijo Gilbert and Arjun V scored for Kerala in the second half. Score (4-4)
Sufian Sheikh netted twice for Maharashtra while Himanshu Patil and Sumit Bhandari scored one goal each. Visakh Mohanan scored the first goal for Kerala.
Maharashtra played attacking at the beginning of the game and Maharashtra players kept trying to stop Kerala’s moves in the middle of the field. Taking the lead in the 17th minute itself, Maharashtra went without saying that the game was in their hands. Sufian Sheikh took advantage of Kerala’s defensive weakness to get the ball into the net. Before the hype of that goal died down, Maharashtra again rattled Kerala’s net. This time the target was seen. The hero is Himanshu Patil. The goal was scored in the 20th minute.
Meanwhile, Kerala had a great chance to score in the 28th minute but luck was far away. Maharashtra again shocked by adding the third goal to their account in the 35th minute. Sumit Rajendrasingh Bhandari saw the target. Sumit shook Kerala’s net by demolishing Kerala’s defense. Soon after, Visakh Mohan came in with a consolation goal for Kerala. Vishakh caught the cross from Muhammad Salim from inside the box and put it into the net. But with only minutes to go in the first half, Soufian was the villain again. In the 42nd minute, Kerala scored the fourth goal and secured the dominance of the game. The failure in Kerala’s defense led to the goal. Sufiyan, who got the ball through the mistake of Asif, who came as a substitute, easily hit the net.
