Maharashtra retain west zone football title with a game to go

Nagpur: Nachiket Palav and Akbar Siddhique scored a goal each as AG Maharashtra blanked Madhya Pradesh 2-0 for their third victory on the trot in the Indian Audit & Accounts Department (IA&AD) West Zone Football tournament at the SECR Motibagh ground on Thursday.The hat-trick of victories not only gave Maharashtra the table-top position with 9 points, they successfully defended the West Zone title with a game remaining. At the end of the penultimate day of the tournament played in the round-robin format, Maharashtra was followed by Rajasthan with 7 points, but they completed their quota of four matches.
Gujarat was in third position with 5 points and will face Maharashtra in the last league match on Friday. Even if Gujarat win their last outing, they will collect 3 points and can only finish second with a total of 8 points. If Gujarat play out a draw with Maharashtra, then the home team will qualify for the All India tournament with Rajasthan.In the second match of the day, Nachiket drew first blood as early as the 2nd minute, making the most of a 20-yard free kick. In the 13th minute, Siddhique doubled the lead when he placed the ball into the far corner of the net from the top of the rectangle box. Thereafter, Maharashtra defended well to register an emphatic 2-0 victory over Madhya Pradesh.Earlier, Rahul Dagar scored a hat-trick to help Rajasthan prevail over Chhattisgarh 3-0. Dagar found the net in the 6th, 15th, and 30th minutes respectively. On Friday, Madhya Pradesh will meet Chhattisgarh at 8.30 am, while Maharashtra will play Gujarat at 10.30 am, followed by the prize distribution function.