PANJIM: Scoring an own goal in the 20th minute, N Castanha paved the way for Goa’s fourth successive defeat against Punjab 1-3 in a Group A match of 76th National Santosh Trophy football tournament at Bhubaneswar today. Goa were trailing 0-1 at the break.
With today’s victory, Punjab recorded their third victory and kept their hopes alive of earning a ticket to Saudi Arabia where the semi-finals will be played.
Punjab found it tough to control the proceedings as the Goa lads exerted themselves and with a stout-hearted defensive play seldom allowed Punjab much liberty until the 74th minute with R Sheikh being the scorer.
Goa continue to languish at the bottom being the only team in the 6-member league without a single point so far.
With today’s victory, Punjab go on top with 10 points from four matches.
Kerala scored a narrow 1-0 victory over Odisha to keep their semi-finals hopes alive. Noel scored off a penalty in the 16th minute. The loss dashed Odisha’s hopes of advancing to the knock-out stage.
Karnataka scored an injury-time goal to earn a 3-3 draw against Maharashtra. Karnataka are in second spot with eight points from four matches while Kerala are third.
Kerala met Punjab on Sunday and Karnataka take on Odisha on the same day. Goa will face Maharashtra at 5 p.m. in their last match.
The semi-finals will be played in Saudi Arabia.
