MALAPPURAM: Kerala has qualified for the semi-finals of the Santosh Trophy National Football Championship by defeating Punjab by two goals to one in its last group match. With this win, Kerala became the first team to reach the semifinals of this tournament.

It was captain Jijo Joseph who scored both the goals for Kerala. Jijo has scored five goals so far in the tournament.

Punjab scored the first goal of the match in the 12th minute. Although Manveer Singh's goal gave them the lead, they were unable to maintain the lead for much time. Captain Jijo Joseph scored the equalizer for Kerala in the 17th minute. Then in the 86th minute of the second half, Jijo himself scored the winning goal for Kerala.