Narainpur (Chhattisgarh), May 7 (IANS) Kerala defeated Haryana 2-0 to move into the quarterfinal of Swami Vivekananda Under 20 Men’s NFC. The group stage encounter was held at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama ground, here on Tuesday.
The win saw Kerala do a clean sweep of its opponents in Group D as the side won all three games, scoring 11 goals in the process and only conceding one goal during their 3-1 win over Gujarat. It was a brilliant defensive display that stopped the very physical Haryana team from scoring as the game finished 2-0 in favor of Kerala.
A brilliant corner taken by midfielder Akhish Cyril opened the scoring for Kerala in the 22nd minute of the game. The corner was met by P Adil, who rose up and calmly headed the ball into the back of the net.
In a game where the defence resounded and showcased its dominance, it was Ajin A, who scored the second goal in the 80th minute to double the advantage over Haryana and secured the three points.
Haryana and Kerala both entered the game on the back of two wins but a loss saw Haryana’s hopes of progression flicker out as the defeat against Kerala saw them finish second in the group.
–IANS
aaa/bc
