AIFF Media Team

HYDERABAD: Defending champions Services and Manipur qualified for the quarter-finals from Group A of the 78th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at the Deccan Arena on Saturday, December 21, 2024.

Services registered their third straight win as they beat 10-man Rajasthan 2-0 to move to nine points and confirm their place in the top four of the six-team group. Earlier in the day, Jammu & Kashmir kept themselves alive with a 3-0 blanking of Telangana in a do-or-die match. As a result, the hosts, who only have one point so far, became the first team to be eliminated in the group stage. Jammu & Kashmir are now in fourth place with four points. Rajasthan, also with a point, are fifth, and can qualify for the last eight if they beat Jammu & Kashmir on Monday.

Manipur ended the day with a 0-0 draw against table toppers West Bengal, who dropped points for the first time in the campaign. Bengal remained on top with 10 points, while Manipur, still unbeaten, are in third place on eight points.

Another comfortable outing for Services

Rajasthan 0
lost to
Services 2 (Sreyas VG 20', Vijay J 85')

After suffering a setback with a defeat to Manipur in the first match, it's been plain sailing for Services. On Saturday, they made a quick start again as Sreyas VG converted a brilliant low cross by Thingnam Bidyasagar Singh from the left with a deft finish in the 20th minute. An already difficult task was made tougher for Rajasthan when their forward Youraj Singh picked up two bookings in the 50th and 57th minute to be sent off, giving Services a player advantage.

It was one-way traffic for the remainder of the match as Services looked to widen the winning margin. They finally got their second goal when Vijay J put his individual prowess on display. Picking up a ball from captain Christopher Kamei with his back to the goal, Vijay turned swiftly blazed past two red shirts to enter the box and tucked it away into the bottom-left corner.

Jammu & Kashmir earn first win of the campaign

Telangana 0
lost to
Jammu & Kashmir 3 (Hayat Bashir 5', Arun Nagial 74', Aakif Javaid 88')

Jammu & Kashmir, who led at half-time thanks to Hayat Bashir's fifth-minute opener, also had it straightforward against hosts Telangana. Captain Aakif Javaid did the hard work for the first goal, cutting a cross from the by-line with his left foot. An incoming Bashir had the simplest of tasks to score from a couple of yards out.

The second goal arrived from a short corner routine, with Dimple Bhagat swinging in a left-footed delivery in a crowded six-yard box for Arun Nagial to nod it in for his second goal of the final round. Javaid also got his second goal in as many matches in the 88th minute when the Telangana defenders failed to contain him at the top of the box, allowing him to rifle a left-footed shot into the bottom corner.

West Bengal's winning run ends after draw with Manipur

West Bengal 0
drew with
Manipur 0

West Bengal and Manipur's meeting ended goalless but not after any lack of goalmouth action. Both goalkeepers had to make a lot of routine saves, but West Bengal's Sourav Samanta was certainly the busier of the two. The best chance of the first half fell for Manipur as Prabin Khangembam rounded the goalkeeper and shot at goal only for a host of Bengal defenders to block it at the goalline. The ball pin-balled in the penalty area for a few seconds before Bengal managed to clear.

Samanta had more heart-in-the-mouth moments in the second half. In the 65th minute, Shunjanthan Ragui's cross-turned-shot bounced off the far post and nearly crossed the line. A few minutes later, the Bengal custodian, after receiving a back pass, was almost robbed of the ball inside the six-yard box by LT Lowly but the Manipur striker couldn't get a shot away.

In the end, West Bengal hung on for a point which maintained their position at the summit of Group A.

Sunday, December 22 Fixtures (Group B):
09:00 - Tamil Nadu vs Odisha
14:30 - Meghalaya vs Goa
19:30 - Delhi vs Kerala