Santosh Trophy 2024: Kerala Thump Manipur 5-1 To Set Up Final Clash Against West Bengal

Kerala booked their spot in the 78th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy final by beating Manipur 5-1 in the second semi-final on December 29, Sunday. This was the 16th time Kerala entered the final. (More Sports News)

A late Muhammad Roshal PP hat-trick put the gloss on a brilliant team performance from Kerala who will now t🍬ake on old rivals West Bengal for the trophy.

West Bengal and Kerala will clash in the final at the Balayogi Stadium in Hyderabad, with the kick-off sche𝕴dule at 7:30 pm.

In a high-octane first half, Kerala struck first, thanks to their brilliant midfield play🎐 paying out the dividends in the 22nd minute of the game. After some passing that shifted the play constantly, and dragged Manipur's midfield out of shape, Muhammed Riyas played a through ball into the gap towards Muhammed Ajsal.

The forward let the ball go through, having anticipated his supporting forwa𝔍rd Naseeb Rahman making a run up front.

Rahman then picked up the ball 25 yards from goal, entered the🔥 box, rounded the Manipuri goalkeeper and finished with aplomb to give Kerala a deserved lead.

The North East state had faced a similar situation earlier in 🍸the tourney and it helped them in the semi-final when in the 30th minute, from a long throw-in, Nijo Gilbert handled the ball in the box to give Manipur a lifeline back in the game. Shunjantan Ragui made no mistake from the resulting penalty, slamming 🌄it into the roof of the net.

The game was on a knife edge when the momentum turned in the latter stages of the first half. S Hajmal's spill in the danger zone from a wayward Manipur shot resulted in a frenzy hastily cleared away. And in first half injury time came th♔e piece de resistance, a breakaway Kerala move giving them the lead once again.

Right from the left wing, Riyas drifted in to𒅌wards the byline and curled in a shot to give Kerala a much-deserved lea𝄹d going into the second half.