Santosh Trophy: Rahman’s lone goal sees Kerala sail to semis

Hyderabad: Naseeb Rahman rose to the occasion once again as he scored the solitary goal of the match to help Kerala defeat Jammu and Kashmir 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the 78th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy 2024-25 at the Deccan Arena on Friday.

Rahman, who scored in the 73rd minute against Jammu & Kashmir, is now the joint second-highest scorer of the tournament (alongside Tamil Nadu’s Lijo K) with seven goals to his name. Kerala, who have reached the Santosh Trophy semi-finals for the 31st time, will take on Manipur on December 29.

Kerala have been a formidable force in this season’s Santosh Trophy, arriving at their quarter-finals against Jammu and Kashmir as one of the unbeaten heavyweights of the competition. With a potent attack, Kerala’s team dynamics have allowed them to score an impressive total of 29 goals while their defence too stood firm, conceding only four goals so far. Facing such a high-performing team, Jammu and Kashmir, under the tactical guidance of former Indian defender and coach Mehrajuddin Wadoo, prepared a robust defensive strategy to counter Kerala’s aggressive play. They effectively closed down spaces in the midfield, crucial for disrupting Kerala’s build-up play, and tightly marked the wingers to prevent them from making impactful runs down the flanks.

The first half thus saw Kerala’s players visibly frustrated as they struggled to penetrate the solid defensive setup of Jammu and Kashmir. And even when they did, Jammu and Kashmir’s goalkeeper Majid Ahmad was alert and positioned perfectly to make timely saves. Entering the second half, Kerala intensified their efforts and piled on more pressure on the Jammu and Kashmir defence.