Malappuram: Odisha climbed to second place in Group B standings of the Santosh Trophy after beating Gujarat 3-1 on Saturday evening.
Chandra Muduli scored a brace to brighten Odisha’s chances of entering the semifinals.
Odisha, who are unbeaten in the tournament with 2 wins and a draw, have 7 points from three matches. A draw against Services in their final group league fixture on Monday will be enough for Odisha to book a last-four berth.
Manipur have already qualified for semis, with 9 points from four games. If Odisha beat Services, they will top the group. In case of a defeat, Karnataka may pip them to last four with a big win over Gujarat.
Muduli gave Odisha a first-half lead by scoring in the 37th minute. The scoreline remained 1-0 in Odisha’s favour till 77 minutes before a flurry of goals livened up the game.
Prabaldeep equalized for Gujarat with 12 minutes left on the clock. But Odisha upped the ante to score twice in the space of three minutes. Muduli scored his second goal in the 87th minute, before Raisen Tudu made it 3-1 in the 89th.
Jay K reduced the margin for Karnataka five minutes into stoppage time, but ran out of time for a possible equalizer.
