77th NFC for Santosh Trophy : Manipur fight back from one goal down to edge Maharashtra 2-1
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 24 2024:
Manipur fought back from a goal down to beat Maharashtra 2-1 this afternoon at Golden Jubilee Stadium in Yupia, Arunachal Pradesh for their first win in the final round (Group B) of the 77th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy.
Manipur, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Railways courtesy of a last gasp goal in the previous match, conceded a goal early despite dominating the proceedings but put in a diligent effort to pull level before the break through Rojen Wahengbam and walked out 2-1 winners with a late goal from Ningombam Kabiraj.
Maharashtra took the lead after 17 minutes with Azfar Noorani nodding home a beautiful looping cross from the left flank by Satish Hawaldar and continued with few more quick attempts to add to their advantage.
Manipur, however, denied them with ease and gradually gained control of the game and hammered Maharashtra defence with a barrage of attempts with Sadananda, Samson and Singam Subash at the centre of the attacks.
Manipur had plenty of inside the box chances to pull level but lack of finesse held them back until experienced Rojen Wahengbam, who was the heart of the Manipuri defence, rose above all to connect a corner kick from Maibam Deny and headed home beautifully in the 40th minute to make it 1-1 at half time.
It was almost an end to end affair in the second half but things got intensified in the last quarter of the match with both the teams exchanging more close calls in their bid to add to their tally.
Manipur players, however, had the last laugh as Ningombam Kabiraj scored a piledriver late in the 88th minute off a pass from substitute Nongmaithem Sushilkumar following a corner effort.
Manipur successfully saw off the game 2-1 to amass four points from two matches.
Manipur will play defending champions Karnataka in the next match on February 26 at the same venue.
The match starts at 7 pm .