Karnataka started the match on an attacking note and defeated Maharashtra 2-0 in their Group B quarter final league match of the 63rd National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, at the Nehru Stadium, Chennai on Friday.
Karnataka had better ball possession and played with short passes. Maharashtra were shaky in the initial stages with their mid fielders and strikers failing to get their coordination right.
In the 21st minute J Sathish shot from inside the box was not powerful enough and went straight to Maharashtra custodian Arup Debnath. But four minutes later Karnataka took the lead as B Prakash chipped the ball over the Maharashtra defenders and an alert Sanath Kumar tapped the ball Arup Debnath to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later Maharashtra was unlucky as an Asim cross had Sampath Kumar Kuttymani heading it only to find the near post. With a solitary goal lead Karnataka played more aggressively and in the 34th minute a Xavier Vijaya Kumar pass had BV Pradeep shooting over the bar.
A minute later Xavier shot was saved by Arup Debnath as Karnataka relied more on counter attacks. Karnataka could have extended the lead in the 43rd minute but an unmarked C Prakash shot sailed over the bar.
Maharashtra had their best chance to score the equalizer a minute later but Paresh Shivalkar was late in responding to a cross from Steven Dias as the match entered into the lemon break with Karnataka having a 1-0 lead.
The start of the second half had Maharashtra trying hard to score the equalizer but they failed to break the strong Karnataka defence line. Meanwhile Sanath Kumar was substituted by Dada Nabeel and the substitution worked for the victors.
In the 68th minute Dada Nabeel was left unmarked as he received a cross from Rajendra Prasad inside the box and the formers powerful right footer gave Karnataka a 2- 0 lead. With a 2-0 lead Karnataka could sniff the victory as they had better ball possession and dominated the entire second half proceedings to pocket three points.
Source: the-aiff.com
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Friday 5 June 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.