Chhattisgarh and West Bengal Start Santosh Trophy Campaign with Impressive Wins”

by Chittu Shetty January 8, 2023

In Group 4 action of the Santosh Trophy, Chhattisgarh defeated Daman & Dadra 2-0, while West Bengal cruised to a 3-0 victory over Haryana.

In the first match, Chhattisgarh took the lead in the 35th minute when Gaurav sent in a cross that deflected off a defender and looped up into the air. Goalkeeper Shivam came out for the ball, but Ujit Markam jumped the highest to head it into the net. Just a few minutes later, Chhattisgarh doubled their lead when Somnath Das sent in a dangerous cross into the box that was met by an unmarked Avishek Kunjam, who headed the ball past the diving keeper.

Chhattisgarh continued to control the second half, coming close to adding to their lead while Daman & Dadra struggled to trouble their opponent’s defense. The match ended with a 2-0 win for Chhattisgarh.

FT: Dadra & Daman 0 – 2 Chhattisgarh

In the second match, tournament favorites West Bengal kicked off their campaign with a dominant win over Haryana. In the third minute, Totan Das collected the ball from outside the box and made a driving run into the box, playing a quick one-two with Robi Hansda before slotting the ball past Haryana’s goalkeeper to the near post. In the 22nd minute, West Bengal doubled their lead when Surajit Hansda received a pass from Dipak Rajak and placed it to perfection with his first touch to make it 2-0.

Haryana had a chance to pull one back near the end of the first half when Bengal’s goalkeeper Shubham Roy came off his line to collect a long ball but misjudged the bounce, allowing Haryana striker Jeevesh to get past him and run for the ball. However, Jeevesh’s final strike into the target was cleared off the line by Akash Mukherjee’s heroic defense.

In the second half, West Bengal continued their strong performance with a goal in the 53rd minute. Amit Chakraborty sent in a cross from the wings, which was headed into the goal by an alert Robi Hansda.

Despite creating several more chances, West Bengal were unable to add to their lead. Haryana managed to produce some late fight, but their efforts were either very wasteful or well-defended by the Bengal defense. The match ended with West Bengal winning 3-0.

FT: Haryana 0 – 3 West Bengal

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