Bengaluru, Janaury 17: Karnataka outplayed Telangana 5-0 in the opening encounter of the Santosh Trophy South Zone Qualifying Round, played at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Wednesday (January 10).
Rajesh S (7th minute, 69th) and Liton Shil (19th, 68th) and scored a brace apiece and Shahabaaz Khan (83rd) added the fifth in the second half for Karnataka.
Rajesh scored his second one through an overhead kick to hog the limelight on the day. However, given the way Telangana played, Karnataka should have scored more.
"Karnataka missing chances was indeed worrying today," their head coach P Muralidharan said after the game. "They missed some sitters and were relaxed after they took a 2-0 lead in the first half. However, I urged them to push for more goals as only the group winners proceed to the final stages of the Santosh Trophy."
Karnataka started as the dominant side and expectedly took the lead in the seventh minute. Liton played a through ball that sliced through a couple of defenders to land on the feet of Rajesh. The Rail Wheel Factory striker dribbled into the box and fired a left-footer into the far right post, beyond a diving Telangana goalkeeper Sri Kumar P.
The goal hit Telangana when they were only settling into the conditions. Things turned from bad to worse when Liton gushed through and sneaked in a shot on the right after a cross by right-back Sunil Kumar M, to double Karnataka's lead.
Telangana coach also feels that Telangana does not take Santos trophy seriously and feels local coaches aren't giving the required push to local talent.
— Praxpk (@praxpk) January 17, 2018
Telangana looked phased out as Karnataka retained maximum possession through the rest of the first half. They even made an offensive change at half-time when Ramesh Chandra Pramanik came on for Vinod Kumar S. Nothing seemed to be working for them up front and Karnataka gradually stepped up for their third.
Shahabaaz was at the thick of things on the left and he floated a delightful cross to the centre, which was tucked into the far corner by Liton.
The very next minute, when Karnataka had barely finished celebrating, Rajesh scored a stunner.
It was Liton who provided him the ball from the right flank and Rajesh timed the shot perfectly and struck off a powerful bicycle kick into the centre of the net.
Karnataka coach feels Leon Augustine could have done better and he put in only 50 percent of his capability. #SantoshTrophy #karvstelangana
— Praxpk (@praxpk) January 17, 2018
Karnataka then rested their attackers and brought in fresh blood in the form of Amoes and Shamanth Dodda Hanumaiah. However, it was the energetic Shahabaaz who struck the final goal of the day for Karnataka.
Midfielder Solaimalai N tricked his way into the left flank and squared it for Shahabaaz Khan, who fired a left-footer into the top right corner.
In four-team Group A, Karnataka take charge after their win. The main contenders, however, will be Services. The hosts next play Puducherry at 1.15 pm on January 19, Friday. The game against Services is scheduled at 4 pm on January 21, Sunday.
RESULTS
Karnataka 5 (Rajesh S 7, 69, Liton Shil 18, 68, Shahabaaz Khan 83) bt Telangana 0;
Services 4 (Arjun Tudu 20, Gautham Singh 72, Nanish Singh 59, Saji P 86 og) bt Puducherry 1 (Kartikeyan G 9)