Santosh Trophy: Punjab beat Odisha, make quarters

LUCKNOW: Punjab outplayed Odisha 3-0 to top the qualifying Group B match in the Santosh Trophy football championship being played at Sampoornanand Stadium in Varanasi on Friday. Despite the loss, Odisha made it to the quarterfinals to be played in Kerala later this month.
As both Punjab and Odhisha had defeated Meghalaya in the earlier matches, both secured berths in the quarterfinals and Friday's match only decided the group toppers.
Prem Kumar and Gagandeep Singh were instrumental in Punjab dominating Odisha right from the beginning. Prem Kumar struck the opener in the 15th minute and also set up Gagandeep twice and the latter found the target in the 41th and the 54th minutes.
Having won both their group matches, Punjab go into the quarterfinals with their confidence high.
On Saturday, the last day of qualifying matches in Varanasi, hosts Uttar Pradesh will take on Maharashtra. UP have made it to the final round after defeating Mizoram in their first match. But Maharashtra need a win over the hosts to make sure they too travel to Kerala. Maharashtra were held 1-1 by Mizoram and are thus under pressure to secure a win against the hosts in order to pip Mizoram to the second qualifying berth.
Today's match: UP vs Maharashtra 1pm.