Santosh Trophy: Kerala shoot out holders Bengal

Kolkata: Kerala defeated defending champions Bengal 4-2 on penalties after the full-time scoreline read 2-2 to win the 72nd Hero Santosh Trophy at the Vivekananda Yuvabharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Sunday.

Jithin M.S. scored in the 19th minute for Kerala while Jiten Murmu drew level in the 68th minute. In extra time, Vibin Thomas first found the net in the 117th minute after Rajon Burman was sent off. Tirthankar scored late into injury time for Bengal  to take the game to penalties where Kerala emerged eventual victors.

Bengal were on the attack from the early minutes of the match. Tirthankar Sarkar had two freekick chances from the left side of the area within the first six minutes. While the first one was duly cleared by the Kerala wall, left-back Sreerag G. pulled off a goal-line clearance from Monotosh Chakladar’s shot after goalkeeper Midhun V parried it away.

However, it was Kerala who broke the deadlock against the run of play. Jithin Gopalan intercepted a ball in the centre of the park and found Seesan S. close by. He then showed some great vision to release Jithin M.S. on the run. Bengal’s left-back, Abhishek Mukherjee was off his position and with Sourav Dasgupta failing to track the winger, Jithin M.S. brought up his fifth goal of the tournament by slotting home through goalkeeper Ranajit Majumder’s gates.

All attempts of a comeback from Bengal were thwarted by the southern side. Monotosh Chakladar attempted a header from a set-piece in the 25th minute but went straight to Midhun. Skipper Jiten Murmu tried his luck after the half-hour mark from range but the ball went over the bar.

Afdal V.K. on the other hand tried to show some trickery in the opposing box but his final shot was poor and wide off target. Tirthankar Sarkar continued to deliver dangerous and powerful freekicks, all of which were defended well by a solid Kerala defence.

Injury time in the first half threw some excitement. First, Bidyashagar Singh forced a corner after Lijo S. deflected his shot. The ensuing flag-kick was cleared and Rahul K.P. initiated a counter-attack. Anurag PC ran with the ball close to 50 yards and triggered Jithin MS on the right. Ranajit thankfully got a touch to his cross which resulted in Afdal V.K. losing his momentum and the striker took a hard fall in front of an empty net as his shot went over. Kerala led 1-0 at half time.