Santosh Trophy: Mizoram first to seal semis berth

New Delhi: Mizoram sealed their semi-final berth with a 2-1 win over Punjab while Karnataka also remained in the hunt beating Odisha by an identical scoreline in the national football championship for the 72nd Santosh Trophy in Kolkata on Saturday.

The North-eastern outfit now have three wins from as many matches to lead Group B, followed by Karnataka, who have six points from two matches.

Mizoram face Goa in their final league match on March 28 while Punjab take on Karnataka on Monday.

Mizoram made a rousing start to the contest with Lal Remruata scoring back-to-back goals in space of two minutes.

He drew first blood in the seventh minute, off a rebound, and followed it up with a smart finish soon after.

Jitender Rawat pulled one back for Punjab in the 56th minute.

At the Rabindra Sarovar Stadium, Odisha gave Karnataka a tough time.

Karnataka went ahead through Leon Augustine in the 26th minute but Odisha restored parity in the closing stages of the first half through Arjun Naik.

The second-half saw both teams fighting for a decisive goal and it was Rajesh S. who scored the winner for Karnataka in the 87th minute.

Gunashekar Vignesh entered the Odisha box from the left side and squared the ball for Rajesh, who pushed it in promptly to seal crucial three points for his side.