Goa players celebrates after Stendly Fernandes scored the opening goal against Karnataka during the Santosh Trophy match at Bangalore Football Stadium on Wednesday.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Former champions Karnataka bowed out of the competition at the group stage for the second year running after going down 0-2 to Goa in their final Group H match at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Wednesday.
Goals from skipper Stanley Teotonia Fernandes (45+2nd minute) and substitute Joshua D'silva (69th) gave two-time champions Goa their first win of the tournament as they pipped Karnataka to finish second in the group.
The 2023 champions, who were without their star player Macarton Nickson due to yellow-card accumulation suspension, were already playing for pride as their fate was sealed even before kickoff with Services defeating Lakshadweep to secure the top spot in the group. Having earlier beaten both Karnataka and Goa, Services finished unbeaten to claim the lone qualification spot, turning the fixture into an inconsequential affair.
That feeling reflected early on the pitch as Karnataka dominated possession from the start, pinning Goa deep in their own half, but struggled to stretch Goa's defensive line. Goa stayed compact in midfield as well, cutting off passing lanes and forcing Karnataka into slow, predictable build-up. While the visitors tried to break through the middle, often via their midfielder Vellington Fernandes, the telling pass was repeatedly missing.
Karnataka’s best first-half chance came close to the 40-minute mark when Nikhil Raj found space in the box, but Goa goalkeeper Sanij Bugde dealt with the effort comfortably. Goa then struck against the run of play in injury time with skipper Stendly Fernandes calmly finishing at the far post after a perfectly lobbed pass from an unmarked Vellington.
The second half saw Karnataka push harder, with substitute Vishal R getting on the end of multiple crosses, but Sanij stood firm. Goa made them pay for those missed chances when substitute Joshua D’Silva went on a solo run from the left to make it 2-0. Karnataka even hit the post late through Nikhil Raj but it summed up a frustrating campaign that ended far earlier than expected.
Speaking to DH after the match, Karnataka head coach Ravi Babu Raju, who led the team to the title in 2023, felt that the lack of quality strikers was the reason behind their early exit.
"We were missing forwards who could convert those 50-50 chances into goals," said Raju. "We did zero in on three strikers from the A Division but one of them had an injury while the other two chose to play elsewhere. Going forward, it will be important for the system to develop quality strikers for the next season where only state-born players can play for the team."
Results: Goa: 2 (Stanley Teotonia Fernandes 45+2nd, Joshua D'silva) bt Karnataka: 0.
Services: 2 (Roshan Panna 54th, Vijay J 60th) bt Lakshadweep: 1 (Nisamudheen BC 88th).