A golden opportunity to book semifinal berth eluded Odisha in 75th Senior National Football Championships for Santosh Trophy as they suffered a heat-breaking 0-2 defeat against defending champion Services in their fourth and last Group-B league match at the Kottappadi stadium in Malappuram, Karala today.

Needing only a draw to qualify for the semifinals, Odisha paid the price for complacency as the defending championx pumped in two late goals to end its campaign on a winning note. Vivek Kumar (74th) and Nikhil Sharma (82nd) scored the goals for Services.

Odisha created more chances in the match, but failed to convert these into goals. If that was not all, towards the end of the game, Odisha defender Abhishek Rawat saw a straight red card. Services captain Vivek Kumar was awarded as the Player of the Match.

Though Services too failed to make it to the last-four stage, they did Karnataka a huge favour by defeating Odisha. Later in the day, Karnataka stormed into the semifinals trouncing Gujarat 4-0 in the last league match at the Payyanad Stadium in Malappuram.

The Karnataka team, which needed to beat Gujarat by a three goal margin to sneak ahead of Odisha on goal difference, did in style.
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PHOTO: Services captain Vivek Kumar poses with the Player of the Match award after their win over Odisha in the Santosh Trophy Senior National Football Championship in Malappuram on 25 April 2022.