Tamilnadu started their Santosh Trophy campaign on a winning note score a 2-0 facile victory over Mizoram in the second quarterfinal group B league match played at the Salt Lake stadium here on Friday evening.
C.S. Sabeeth opened the accounts for Tamilnadu in the second half after a pale first session, while R. Rajesh scored the second for the last year’s semi-finalist.
Both the teams took a cautious approach as neither of the two looked sharp in their attack.
Mizoram, who upset Kerala in the pre-quarters looked better in the initial stage of the game, but failed to carry on the momentum and were force to share the spoils in the first half with the scoreline reading 0-0.
Tamilnadu who kept measuring their opponent with some fine counter-attacks, finally got the equaliser in the 61st minute with Viva Kerala striker C.S. Sabeeth heading in from a close range. It was former Mahindra United stopper D. Ravanan free-kick that paved the way for the opener, Mizoram goalkeeper Danny Rohlua completely missing the flight of the ball which gave Sabeeth chance to book his name in the scoresheet.
Tamilnadu extended their lead in the 73rd minute with a brilliant move involving C.S.Sabeeth and goal scorer R. Rajesh. Sabeeth received a pass from the right and made a swift run before brilliantly putting it for Rajesh, who made no mistake to put Tamilnadu on the driver seat.
Tamilnadu moves at the top of the Group B table with three points after Delhi and West Bengal played a 1-1 draw sharing second and third spot, while Mizoram loss put them at the last place.