Sheen Sohktung’s spectacular winner in harm time helped newcomer Meghalaya edge previous former champion Punjab 2-1 in the primary semifinal of the 76th National championship for the Santosh Trophy, on the King Fahd International Stadium right here on Wednesday.
The northeastern facet will now tackle Karnataka in the ultimate. Karnataka dished out a pleasant essay of attacking soccer to outplay a powerful Services 3-1 in the second semifinal.
Karnataka reached the finals of the Santosh Trophy after a break of 46 years.
Services went in the lead late in the fortieth minute by means of a Bikash Thapa purpose however Karnataka rebounded shortly in the forty second minute when Robin Yadav swerved dwelling a tasty free-kick.
Karnataka took the lead in first-half injury-time when Ankith P. completed a pleasant counter-attack. Karnataka sealed the match in the 77th minute when Robin Yadav essayed a protracted throw that noticed the ball touchdown deep contained in the Services field.
The dwelling defenders scurried to defend and ended up heading the ball additional in direction of the purpose. Substitute wing-back M. Sunil Kumar charged up by means of the far finish to volley dwelling.
Meanwhile, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was launched in the Santosh Trophy for the primary time with the host, Saudi Arabia Football Federation, offering the technolgy.
“We will soon introduce the technology in our domestic tournaments like ISL. The VAR is a costly proposition but I am sure the technological brains of our country can be employed to find a cost effective solution for us,” AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey mentioned throughout an interplay.
The outcomes: Punjab 1 (Parmjit Singh 16) misplaced to Meghalaya 2 (Figo Syndai 37, Sheen Sohktung 90+1); Services 1 (Bikash Thapa 40) misplaced to Karnataka 3 (Robin Yadav 42, Ankith P. 45+1, Sunil Kumar 77).