Punjab blanks holders Goa 2-0 in Santosh Trophy

Gurgaon, Oct 14 (UNI) Former champions Punjab outplayed holders Goa to register a 2-0 victory in the quarterfinal league match of the Santosh Trophy here tonight.

Sukhjinder Singh (44th minute) and Manjit Singh (79th) were the scorers for the winners.

This was a revenge of sort for Punjab who had lost to Goa in the semifinals last year.

In a fast-paced encounter, Punjab dominated throughout the match with India striker Manjit Singh and Praveen Kumar giving outstanding performance in the upfront and making dangerous moves in the rival citadel. Punjab in fact could have won by a bigger margin had they not spurned couple of golden chances.

On the other hand, defending champions Goa, who have several players from the last edition of the tournament, got a single chance in the entire the match and their midfielders were overshadowed by their Punjab counterparts.

Punjab in fact could have taken the lead in the 24th minute itself when the Goan goalkeeper failed to clear Hardeep Singh Saini's lob and Manjit Singh's subsequent goal-bound header was saved on the goalline by defender Covan Lawrence.

Punjab got another chance in the 39th minute when Manjit poached on a defensive lapse and found himself alone in front of the goalkeeper but the Mahindra United striker's feeble shot was blocked by the goalkeeper and Parveen Kumar's shot from the rebound sailed over the bar.

Punjab took the lead just before the breather when Saini's long free-kick from the right was powerfully headed home by Sukhjinder who outjumped rival defenders.

Eight minutes into the second half, Sukhjinder could have completed his brace when Parveen Kumar dribbled past a couple of defenders and the goalkeeper and sent a cross to Sukhjinder but the latter could not push it into an empty net and hit the bar.

Punjab dominated the second half as well and didn't relax in this session. They increased the lead through Manjit, who found himself unmarked in the box, and fed by a Jaswinder Singh pass, he slotted it home to make it 2-0.

Goa got the only chance in the 84th minute but Peter Cardalho, latching on to a Sameer Naik pass, rounded off the goalkeeper but failed to regain position to take a shot as rival defenders cleared the ball.

Punjab coach Jagir Singh later said today's win was crucial for the side and said he was confident of winnings the match.

''We could have won by a bigger margin.'' he said.

Goan coach Mouricio Afonso blamed the midfielders for the defeat.

''We didn't play Goan style of football and their midfielders made all the difference,'' he rued.

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