Swami Vivekananda U20 Men's NFC : Chandigarh Become First Team To Qualify For QF's

Swami Vivekananda U20 Men's NFC : Chandigarh become first team to qualify for QF's (Image Source: IANS)

Swami Vivekananda U20 Men: Chandigarh qualified for the Swami Vivekananda U20 Men's National Football Championship quarter-finals after a 1-0 win over Telangana at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Ground in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh, on Monday.

Thanks to Manveer Singh's last-minute winner, Chandigarh ended Group E with a perfect tally of nine points, including prior victories over Pondicherry (5-0) and Uttarakhand (2-0). They will face Group F's winner, Delhi or Andhra Pradesh, in the quarter-final on April 17.

In the last match of Group E, a dead rubber, Uttarakhand defeated Pondicherry 5-1 to end their campaign with a win.

Requiring only a point to secure a quarter-final berth, Chandigarh were content with the score locked goalless for the majority of the match. For Telangana, it was a must-win fixture but they were unable to break down the Chandigarh defence, which kept its third clean sheet in a row.

Ultimately, Manveer Singh's third goal of the campaign in the fifth minute of stoppage time grabbed all three points for Chandigarh. After Surjakanta Singh's shot was half-cleared by Telangana, Manveer chested down the loose aerial ball and slotted it past goalkeeper Bairam Giri Prakash.

In the other game, Animesh Kumar Yadav starred with a hat-trick for Uttarakhand. He opened the scoring with a bottom-corner finish in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, added another from the penalty spot in the 69th, and netted a solid long-ranger in the 72nd.

Ultimately, Manveer Singh's third goal of the campaign in the fifth minute of stoppage time grabbed all three points for Chandigarh. After Surjakanta Singh's shot was half-cleared by Telangana, Manveer chested down the loose aerial ball and slotted it past goalkeeper Bairam Giri Prakash.

Article Source: IANS