Santosh Trophy: Defending champions Services advance to quarterfinals

This was Services' third straight victory as they beat 10-man Rajasthan to move to nine points and confirm their place in the top four of the six-team group.

Hyderabad: Defending champions Services stormed into the quarterfinals of the 78th Senior National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy with a 2-0 win over Rajasthan in the Group B clash at Deccan Arena on Saturday.

This was Services’ third straight victory as they beat 10-man Rajasthan to move to nine points and confirm their place in the top four of the six-team group. Earlier in the day, Jammu & Kashmir kept themselves alive with a commanding 3-0 win over Telangana.

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The hosts, who only have one point so far, became the first team to be eliminated in the group stage. Jammu & Kashmir are now in fourth place with four points. Manipur showcased excellent performance after their shocking loss to Manipur in the first match, since then it has been smooth sailing for the defending champions.

Sreyas VG opened the scoring in the 20th minute and Vijay J’s strike in the 85th minute sealed the win.

Rajasthan forward Youraj Singh picked up two bookings in the 50th and 57th minute to be sent off. Jammu & Kashmir, who led at half-time thanks to Hayat Bashir’s fifth-minute opener, also had it straightforward against hosts Telangana. Arun Nagial and captain Aakif Javaid scored in the 74th and 88th minute of the game.

Results: Telangana 0 lost to Jammu & Kashmir 3 (Hayat Bashir 5’, Arun Nagial 74’, Aakif Javaid 88’); Rajasthan 0 lost to Services 2 (Shreyas VG 20’, Vijay J 85’).