Hosts Kerala made a comeback with a goal to clinch their seventh Santosh Trophy title after beating Bengal 5-4 in a penalty shootout at the Manjeri Payyanad Football Stadium in Malappuram on Monday. Playing in front of a packed home crowd with an official attendance of 26,857, Beano George Chiramal-coached Kerala failed to break through Bengal’s defence, which was brilliantly by veteran goalkeeper Priyanth Kumar Singh in regulation time. The record 32-time champion, aiming to avenge her final loss at home in 2016-17, advanced into extra time via a sensational diving header by Dilip Oravan (97th), which was brilliantly shot from the left by Supriya Pandit. properly installed. But Bengal’s defense, led by captain Monotosh Chakladar, faltered in the last four minutes of extra time, an action replay of Bengal’s goal.
When the crowd protested and started throwing bottles from the stands, it was Bibin Ajayan who equalized with a leaping header after Nufal PN was set off from the right flank to force a penalty shootout.
Bengal started the penalty shootout with a strike from Dilip Orawan but in their second attempt, Sajal Bagh hit a wide which turned out to be decisive in the end.
Bablu Ora, Tanmay Ghosh and goalkeeper Priyanth changed their chances and in the last attempt they left the big task of depriving Kerala of the winning penalty for substitute goalkeeper Raja Burman.
Burman put in his best but Faslurrahman Methukail sealed it, shooting the ball into the top corner to clinch his first Santosh Trophy on home soil since 1993 (Kochi).
After beating Bengal 2–0 in the group stage, Kerala doubled under the Ranjan Bhattacharya-coached team.
It was a contrasting tale of two halves with Bengal dominating in the first 45 minutes, while Kerala came close after converting on several occasions.
It was a valiant performance under the bar by their keeper Priyant Kumar Singh that Bengal kept alive their hopes of bringing the trophy back home.
Priyanth’s best defense came in the 33rd minute when he held on to a clean slate by intercepting a brilliant strike from Viknesh M.
Two minutes later, Priyanth swung into action again, this time refusing Sanju ji.
publicized
Bengal’s top forward Molla’s outing was forgettable and he missed a few chances in the first half.
The hosts fought hard in the second half with the tournament’s top scorers Jijo Joseph and Vikensh battling all their efforts as the Bengal defense turned down a goalless stalemate in regulation time.
Topics mentioned in this article