Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 28 Feb: Host Arunachal’s dismal run continued as they suffered a disappointing 0-2 loss to Kerala in a Group ‘A’ match of the 77th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at Golden Jubilee Stadium, Yupia on Wednesday.
Muhammed Ashiq Shoukathali and Arjun V scored the goals for Kerala in the 35th and 52nd minutes, respectively.
It was Arunachal’s third straight defeat in the ongoing tournament. It had drawn 3-3 with Goa in the opener, lost 0-4 to Services in the second match and 0-2 to Assam in the third match.
The hosts were languishing at the rock bottom of the point table with only one point.
The hosts, who are already out of the title contention, will play their last match against Meghalaya on 1 March.
In other group B matches played on Wednesday, Services beat Assam 2-0 and Goa held Meghalaya to a goalless draw.
Thingnam Bidhyasagar Singh and P Christopher Kamei scored the goals in the 44th and 50th minutes, respectively.
After the end of the fourth round, Services were atop the point table in group B, followed by Goa and Kerala in the second and third places, respectively. Assam and Meghalaya were at the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
In Group B, Manipur climbed to the top of the point table after defeating defending champions Karnataka 1-0 on 26 February.
Manipur has now collected seven points from three games and is three points clear atop the Group B.
Mizoram produced a near-flawless performance against Delhi in their third Santosh Trophy game on Monday, registering a 5-1 victory. This result means that Mizoram draw level with Delhi, both of whom are on four points from three matches.
Railways, who began the day at the bottom of Group B, managed to get themselves back into contention for knockout qualification with a slender 2-1 victory against Maharashtra on Monday.
Railways, after this win, also moved to four points from three matches while, Maharashtra remained on three points from as many games.
