Captain Jijo Joseph scored twice -- including a late winner -- as Kerala entered the semifinals of the Santosh Trophy with a 2-1 win over Punjab at the Payyanad Stadium in Manjeri, Malappuram on Friday.
Jijo netted the winner in the 86th minute. Earlier, the midfielder had equalised in the 16th minute after Manvir Singh had given Punjab a shock lead in the 11th minute.
Thriller at Manjeri
The game restarted on top gear after the half-time break with both sides finding great goal-scoring chances.
Substitute Viknesh had the first opportunity for the hosts when he outpaced the Punjab defence, but failed to beat Harpreet with a tame effort.
Moments later, Hajmal produced one of the best saves of the championship when he dived low to his left and kept out a powerful drive from Jashandeep.
Parmjit Singh had found Amarpreet in space with a long pass and the midfielder's cross was gracefully controlled by Jashandeep, whose shot on the turn met with an equally brilliant response from the Kerala goalkeeper.
The match was finely balanced and despite their slightly better possession stats, Kerala struggled to break the Punjab defence.
A pair of substitutions at half-time had, however, made Kerala more dangerous in the final third.
The two Kerala substitutes had combined to so nearly put the hosts ahead. But Shighil's header off Noufal's cross was straight at Harpreet in the Punjab goal.
Visitors stun home crowd
Manvir had put the visitors ahead in the 11th minute while Jijo stepped up and found the equaliser just five minutes later.
It was sloppy defending from Kerala that allowed Punjab to take the early lead.
The Kerala defence was caught unawares when the ball was loose in Punjab's final third. Manvir pounced on it and even though goalkeeper Midhun managed to apply a hand, it bounced into the net to stun the home crowd.
Kerala regained composure and attacked in numbers. Salman forced a save from Harpreet Singh and Arjun Jayaraj fired over as Kerala kept pressing.
Moments later Arjun Jayaraj spotted his captain inside a congested Punjab box and delivered a sumptuous dipping cross that was glanced in by the midfielder. It was Jijo's fourth goal in the championship.
Meanwhile, Kerala suffered a blow as their No. 1 goalkeeper, Midhun was taken off injured, possibly a consequence of a collision with Manvir early on.
He was replaced by Hajmal.
Punjab too made an early substitution, which seemed tactical. The in-form Jashandeep, who had been surprisingly left on the bench, was introduced in place of Baljit Singh.
Kerala continued to dominate the game, but Punjab defended valiantly to keep the scores even.
Manvir once again found the back of the net, with a header, but he was flagged offside.
Earlier, Kerala head coach Bino George named a strong XI in search of a place in the semifinals.
Both sides made two changes each.
Kerala opted to leave the impressive Nijo Gilbert on the bench and gave a start to Shighil, who impressed since coming on in their previous match against Meghalaya that had ended 2-2.
Midfielder Salman Kalliyath also found a place in the first XI.
