Santosh Trophy: Mizoram inch closer towards semi-final with win against Punjab

Kolkata:  Mizoram virtually sealed a semi-final berth with a 2-1 win against Punjab, while Karnataka too remained in the hunt after beating Odisha by an identical scoreline in the 72nd Santosh Trophy on Saturday.

The North-Eastern outfit now have three wins from as many matches to be on nine points to lead group B, followed by Karnataka, who have six points from two matches.

Mizoram had a rousing start to the contest at the Howrah Stadium with Lal Remruata scoring back to back goals in the space of two minutes

In the seventh minute, Remruata drew first blood off a rebound and struck his second in a couple of minutes. Jitender Rawat pulled one back for Punjab in the 56th minute.

Odisha gave Karnataka a stiff challenge at the Rabindra Sarovar Stadium.

Karnataka drew first blood through Leon Augustine in the 26th minute but Odisha restored parity in first-half injury time with Arjun Naik's 45+2nd-minute strike.

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.