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The Maharashtra Sub – Junior team got off to a winning start at the National Football Championship 2015-16 held at Seoni, Madhya Pradesh by taking Gujarat to the cleaners.
Maharashtra were superior to Gujarat from start to finish, absolutely wrecking them, 5-0. This result keeps them top of the table, and now gives them confidence for the remaining matches.
It only took 13 minutes for Maharashtra to capture the lead. Utkarsh Rawat scored, which wasn’t particularly surprising, but the setup certainly was. Atharva ran through their midfield before playing a perfect pass into the path of Utkarsh, who placed a shot inside the far post with the outside of his boot.
The next 8 minutes were fairly even, with Gujarat getting the ball into the box on a regular basis, but Atharva effectively ended the match in the 21st minute. Cornilius found him with a through ball after patiently waiting for him to make the right run, and Atharva finished, though their goalkeeper probably should have been able to tip the ball out for a corner.
Maharashtra secured the result with a 26th minute blast into the top corner by the captain, Ridge D’mello assisted by Utsav with a gorgeous first-touch pass.
At that point, simply to prove their superiority, Maharashtra scored the fourth goal through Aaron Nazareth in the 36th minute, completing the rout.
The second half was no different. Maharashtra controlled the game and added a fifth through Joshua D’souza. A flurry of substitution from both sides took away the sting from the game as Maharashtra finished comfortable winners.
Next up, Maharashtra will face the host Madhya Pradesh on 18th February 2016.
