AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: Electric Veng Futsal Club took a huge step towards qualification for the Hero Futsal Club Championship semi-final with a 5-2 victory over Bengaluru FC in Group A at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall on Thursday, February 16, 2023.

Lalhlimpuia netted a hat-trick, while Samuel Lawmsiamkima and Lalrosanga added a goal each for the Mizo side before Vinith Venkatesh and Shreyas Ketkar scored two consolation goals for the Blues. The win took Electric Veng to 12 points from five games, and a point in their last group game against Techtro Swades United will see them pip Speed Force for the last four berth.

The race to the semi-finals has become quite interesting in Group B after Juggernaut FC's 3-1 win over Mohammedan Sporting. The Black and White Brigade, who have already qualified for the knockouts, took the lead via Sanjay Sharma's goal in the 14th minute before Vedant Mutkekar levelled things up for Juggernauts before half-time. Riyan Yadgiri gave the Ahmedabad-based side the lead just after the break, and Mutkekar scored again to wrap up the comeback win. This has set up a virtual knockout contest between Minerva Academy and Juggernauts tomorrow evening, with the winner set to qualify for the semi-finals.

The other three games on Thursday were dead rubbers but had no shortage of goals.

In Group A, Sports Odisha ended their campaign on a high with a thrilling 6-5 win over Techtro Swades United. Parao Tudu and Raisen Tudu scored a brace each, while D. Sanjay and Jagannath Tudu netted one each for Sports Odisha. For Techtro Swades United, Ankit Singh scored a couple, and Bhuvan Singh, Priyanshu and Rohit Chawla also got their names on the scoresheet.

In Group B, BPSS FC's wait for a first win came to an end in dominant fashion. They were 14-6 winners against Aphuyemi FC. Surya UK and Arvind Kumar scored a hat-trick each. Praveen Kumar S, Uday Sai and Jayavandan Sigamani netted a brace each, while Amol Gangadhar Gamre and Vijay R also got a goal for the Bengaluru-based side. For Aphuyemi, who have now lost all five of their matches, Suraj Bhairat and Ranveer Gaikwad scored a brace each, while Vinayak Shetty and Thimmegowda Shravath Narayan also found the net.

In the last match of the day, Capital Complex FC and Goal Hunterz FC played out a nail-biting 7-7 draw, which saw as many as four goals scored in the last two minutes. Tapi Hakhe scored a treble for Capital Complex, Tagru James a brace, and Techi Tatra and Nabam Peri a goal each. Goal Hunterz's seven goals were split across five scorers - Rajnish Rana and Anupam Vishwakarma with two each, and Ansh Gupta, Nischay Adhikari and Bijoy Gusai with one each.