Midfielder Jithin Gopalakrishnan scored twice as Kerala crushed Jammu and Kashmir 6-1 for its second win in the Group ‘A’ league of the 77th Santosh Trophy National football championship at the SAG Benaulim Ground here on Friday.
Kerala, which blanked Gujarat 3-0 in its opener on Wednesday, is now on top of the five-team group with six points from two wins. Former champion Kerala meets Chhattisgarh next on October 15.
Meanwhile, host Goa, which beat Chhattisgarh 1-0 in its opener earlier, was forced to a 1-1 draw by Gujarat in another Group ‘A’ match on Friday. That result should now make Kerala a favourite to top the top.
The group topper will automatically qualify for the 12-team main phase which will be held in Arunachal Pradesh later this year. Three of the best second-placed teams from the six groups will also enter the final phase and joining them will be defending champion Karnataka, last edition’s runner-up Meghalaya and host Arunachal Pradesh.
The results: Kerala 6 (Jithin Gopalakrishnan 8 & 55; E. Sajeesh 14, Muhammed Ashiq Shoukathali 45+1, K. Abdu Raheem 67, Riswanali Edakkavil 74) bt Jammu & Kashmir 1 (Faizal Maqsood Thakur 61).
Goa 1 (Jobern Cardozo 90+9) drew with Gujarat 1 (Chunsaba Bariam 58).
