Santosh Trophy: Pyrrhic victory for Tamil Nadu

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In an eventful match, Tamil Nadu scored a fine come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Mizoram in their second Group ‘D’ quarterfinal league match of the 66th Santosh Trophy at the Kalinga Stadium here on Monday. In the same group, Railways beat Delhi 2-1.

But the win came at a cost as their key forward P.C. Riju saw red for two yellow cards. Tamil Nadu meet Railways in their final league game on Wednesday and they just need a draw to progress into the semifinals. Railways, on the other hand, need a win to advance.

Neither Tamil Nadu striker U. Jayakumar nor his teammates V.R. Murugappan and R. Naveen Kumar will forget the gripping match.

Jayakumar will remember the tie for all the right reasons as he scored two vital goals and his colleagues for collecting red cards after getting involved in a brawl during the second half. Mizoram, for their part, also received three marching orders.

If not for the ugly incident that took place in the 69th minute, the match was a classic. Trailing by two goals, Tamil Nadu made a valiant effort to emerge winners.

Mizoram broke the deadlock in the second minute. Centre-back K. Sathish, who otherwise had a memorable outing, gifted his opponents with the opener when he tried to head the ball back to his custodian S. Rajini Kumar. Mizoram striker F. Lalrinpuia took complete advantage of the situation and slipped the ball past Rajini.

Twenty minutes later, Lalrinpuia doubled the lead with a scorching header off a superb cross from right-winger Lalbiakulua.

From that point onwards, it was all Tamil Nadu. With their midfield holding most of the possession, TN took control of the match. The backline was solid, too. Most importantly, their strikers also joined the party.

With seven minutes left for the interval, midfielder L. Charles Anandraj reduced the deficit through a precise header. The playmaker made good use of his height to connect S. John Paul’s powerful throw in from the right.

The goal was critical psychological boost TN before half-time.
Tamil Nadu coach Syed Sabir Pasha, who had opted for Jayakumar ahead of M. Ramesh, tried every trick in the book to restore parity.

His move to send in Ramesh for winger S. Karthik paid dividends. The three strikers — A. Reagan being the other one — kept the Mizoram defenders on their toes.

With just a dozen minutes left on the clock, Ramesh chased down a loose ball on the left flank, outmuscled his marker before sending a deep cross into the box.

Jayakumar let the ball pitch and used his right foot to find the far net. Jayakumar scored once more to put Tamil Nadu ahead 3-2. He nodded in Raegan’s corner.

The eight-member Mizoram still had a bit left in their tank. Lalbiakulua made good of a through ball and bulged the net to make it three-all.

However, Ramesh’s winner in the second minute of injury time (five minutes were totally added) ensured three points for TN. Ramesh, after playing a one-two with Jayakumar, calmly rifled in a low-angled shot.

Other results: At Bhubaneswar: Railways 2 (Lal Mohan Hansda 82, Gurpreet Singh 86) bt Delhi 1 (Vikas Rawat 84). Tamil Nadu 4 (U. Jayakumar 49, 78; Charles Anandraj 38, M. Ramesh 90+2) bt Mizoram 3 (F. Lalrunpuia 22, 88; Lalbiakulua 88). At Cuttack: Haryana 1 (Abhishek 8) drew with Odisha 1 (Antu Murmu 44). Services 6 (VV Farhad 4,33,75; Thiyagarajan 62, 90; ZV Horin 44) bt Chhattisgarh 0.
Action today: At Bhubaneswar: Meghalaya vs Uttar Pradesh (4.30pm); Manipur vs Goa (6.45pm). At Cuttack: Kerala vs Maharashtra (4.30pm); Bengal vs Punjab (6.45pm).