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Maharashtra took on Goa in their last game of the quarter final stage of the AIFF U14 National Championship at Kalyani today.
They needed a win or draw to qualify for the Semis and they got off to the perfect start with Pranav Kanse beating the goalkeeper in the 2nd minute to give them the lead. Thereafter they dominated possession and continued to attack.
Their efforts were rewarded in the 17th minute when Kamran Ansari was brought down in the box. The resulting penalty was then converted my midfielder Ishaan Dey.
Goa started to string together a number of attacks and pulled one back in the 21st minute with Boris finishing from close range. They had another chance in the 23rd minute and Malcolm finished well to give them their equalizer.
Both teams had a decent share of possession and it looked like they would head into the half level but that was not to be as striker Pranav Kanse notched up his eight goal of the tournament. He slotted it past the keeper in the 44th minute to give Maharashtra the lead.
The second half was not as eventful as the first and the game finished 3-2 in favor of Maharashtra.
Coach Augusto D’Silva was thrilled with his team’s performance,” We have played well so far to reach the Semi-Finals. West Bengal is the home team tomorrow. It is a tough game but we will go in with an attacking mindset. Our boys are motivated and we will give it our best.”
The Semi-Finals are scheduled for tomorrow morning with the finals set to be played tomorrow evening.
