Manipur sailed into the quarter finals in style beating Delhi by 2-1 goals victory in the ongoing 77th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy 2023-24 played at Golden Jubilee Stadium, Yupia, Arunachal Pradesh.
As the league round winds up, four top teams each from the two groups will be picked for the quarter final matches which will begin from Monday.
Riding high with sweet memories of the recent 4-1 goals win over Mizoram, the Manipur boy got the perfect start with skipper Phijam Sanathoi Meetei, once again, proving his worth to land home the opening goal in the 7th minute of the game.
Playing some solid game as well, Delhi who is on the prowl for loopholes, found the gap with forward Rishabh Dobriyal getting the better of keeper Siddarth Rana to push home the equaliser in the 41st minute in the first half.
Manipur, who already knew of their quarter final berth, played safe resting key players including S Subash Singh. Making a further foray into the game, Manipur brought up the winning goal from Leimajam Sangkar Singh in the 66th minute for the comfortable win.
Two Delhi players Himashu Raj and Lamlallian ST received yellow cards in the match. The first quarter final matches on Monday will have Services taking on Railways at 2.30 pm while Goa will face Delhi at 7 pm. On Tuesday, Manipur will take on Assam at 2.30 pm while Mizoram will play against Kerala at 7 pm.
