Punjab overcame a spirited challenge from West Bengal to carve out a 4-3 win in Group D to progress to the semi-finals of the 67th Santosh Trophy football tournament, in Kollam on Monday.
Sajandeep Singh scored the first goal for the winners in the 15th minute, followed by Prem Kumar (25th) and Afftab Vir Singh (46th).
West Bengal made a stupendous come back as they reduced the margin when Jagannath Sana (66th), Dibendu Biswas (76th) scored quickly in the second half.
For Punjab, the fourth goal came again from the boots of Prem Kumar in the 79th minute.
Though Bengal fought relentlessly thereafter, they could score only one goal in the last minute of the game through Nabin Hela.
In the second quarter-final in the same group, Karnataka beat Manipur 3-1. Karnataka was ahead 2-0 at the end of the first half of the game. The scorers for them were Stephen (3rd minute) and Rajesh (10th minute).
Captain Mmeino scored the lone goal for Manipur in the 63rd minute of play, while Amoes T found the third goal for the winners in the 83rd minute.
Railways beat Odisha in Santosh Trophy
Three-time champions Railways beat Odisha 2-1 in a Group 'A' quarter-final league match for the 67th Santosh Trophy chamiponship in Kochi on Monday.
Odisha's Mohammed Fayazuddin Shah struck the first goal in the 28th minute of play.
In retaliation, Railways's M Regin hit the equaliser in the 74th minute. The second goal for Railways was netted by Amarinder Singh in the 85th minute.
With this win, Railways has 4 points and Odisha 3 points.
In the second match in the A group, Services defeated Madhya Pradesh by 6-0.
In the one-sided match, the first goal was hit in the 25th minute by V V Farhad, who went on to score two more goals.
The second goal came in the 28th minute of the play by Subroto Sarkar. Third goal by L Mawia came in the 56th minute. The fourth goal also scored by him in the 86th minute.
In the 89th minute and injury time, Farhad scored two more goals.
Services has picked up four points from the win.
