Bhubaneswar, Feb 18 (PTI) Services blanked Manipur 3-0 here on Saturday to become the first team to book its berth for the Santosh Trophy semi-final scheduled to be held in Riyadh.
Lacklustre defending by Manipur saw them concede the first two goals within 15 minutes of the start, with Liton Shil (5th minute) and B Sunil (14th) snapping from close range.
Goalkeeper Ngamsanglena Haokip’s weak parry following a Christopher Kamei free kick led to Services’ third goal, which was scored by Bikash Thapa two minutes later.
Services ended up with 10 points from four matches — three wins and one draw.
The win also threw Group B wide open with three teams now in with a chance to secure the second spot.
Meghalaya’s 5-1 thrashing of Delhi and Railways’ 1-0 win over Bengal kept both teams in the fray.
Manipur also remain in contention, though they have to rely on the results of other games in order to qualify.
They face a must-win scenario against Delhi and from there on, they would hope both Meghalaya and Railways draw or lose their games.
Meghalaya put up a scintillating display of controlled, aggressive football to demolish Delhi.
Diengdoh (17th, 57th), Ronaldkydon Lyngdoh (39th, 90+7th) struck a brace each while Everbrightson Sana scored one (90+4th).
Delhi pulled one back in the 90th minute with a strike from Ajay Singh.
Railways climbed back into contention with a 1-0 win over Bengal. Nuruddin struck in the first-half stoppage time (45+2nd) to seal the win.
If Railways beat Services in the final game of the group stage, they will go through as group toppers with a better head-to-head over Services, who will go through as the second team.
Source: PTI News
