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Manipur booked their spot in the semifinal of the Swami Vivekananda U-20 Men's National Football Championship after they beat Telangana 4-1 at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Ground on Sunday.
Pitla Saiyashwanth (21') had put Telangana into an early lead, but Manipur came back strong, scoring three in 10 minutes. The comeback began with a helping hand from Telangana goalkeeper Rishab Pradhan (23'), who scored an own goal. Yendrembam Rohit Singh (30') scored from the spot to put them in front before Ashangbam Bhaskar Singh scored two more (33' and 72'). Manipur, the winners of Group A, and Telangana, the winners of Group H, had an even start to the game in front of a big crowd at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Ground, and to everyone's surprise, it was the lesser fancied Telangana that shot into the lead. A free-kick swung in by Sahil Tamang was nodded into the goal at the far post by Saiyashwanth. The side from the Northeast wasted no time and immediately looked to get back in the game. They had their equaliser a couple of minutes later when a corner by Blessing Keishing was tipped into the goal by Telangana keeper Pradhan. Just around the half-hour mark, Nicky Tongson Anal weaved his way into the Telangana box, where he was brought down. Rohit Singh put the resulting penalty into the bottom corner, inches out of the reach of Pradhan's outstretched right hand, to put Manipur in the lead. Minutes later, Bhaskar Singh was set free on a counter-attack, as he outran his marker, before beating the goalkeeper, to make it 3-1 in Manipur's favour. The Manipur striker added one more in the second half, pouncing on a through ball by Maibam David Singh before slotting it home, to put the game beyond all doubts. Manipur will now take on Karnataka in the first semi-final, set to take place on May 20. (ANI)
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