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Our Correspondent
Kohima, Jan. 22 (EMN): Arunachal Pradesh stunned defending champions Manipur while Nagaland thrashed Tripura in the ongoing North-East Dr. T Ao Trophy played at IG Stadium in Kohima on Wednesday.
In the early minutes of the game, Manipur failed to convert three corner kicks into goal, while shots from Arunachal Pradesh players landed in the safe hands of opponent goalkeeper, Premkumar Singh.
However, Arunachal Pradesh scored the opening goal of the match when R D Karma's shot got deflected from the team captain and goalkeeper, which fell on Charu Lalum’s feet, giving him a chance to convert it to a goal in the 27th minute.
Arunachal failed to maintain their consistency even as Manipur soon gained momentum and equalised the score with a stunning header from defender M Clinton Singh off Kagaly Anal's corner.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw with Arunachal earning one point against the defending champions.
Meanwhile, in the much-anticipated second match of the day, home team Nagaland thrashed Tripura 13-0.
The stadium was packed by home crowd, on Wednesday and players of Nagaland kept scoring at regular intervals.
Nagaland opened the floodgates with a stunning header from Mero just nine minutes into the game, and within a span of five minutes, Thopi scored a hat trick, striking his first goal (39th minute) from Imlongchaba's long pass.
The striker then doubled his tally in the 43rd minute when midfielder Poireng assisted him the ball.
A minute later, Thopi netted another goal during the added time to become the second hat-trick scorer of the tournament. He also assisted fellow striker Mero with a pass to help the team end the first half with 5-0 scoreline.
Keeping the pace, the hosts continued to rout Tripura by scoring eight more goals in the second half amidst the spirited home crowd.
After the break, Haotinmang Thomsong of Nagaland added the sixth goal of the match within a minute into the second half.
Meanwhile, looking for more goals, Mero fired in the seventh goal in the 54th minute and went on to score another in the 68th minute, making it eight goal of the match and the third player to score a hat-trick in the tournament.
Tripura were down to 10 men when Himangshu Talukdar was sent off after receiving two yellow cards, opening a chance for the home team to score more goals.
A few minutes later, Sinenlo Kath and Poireng found their names in the score sheet in the 69th and 77th minutes respectively.
Thopi and Mero increased the scoreline by scoring the eleventh and the twelfth goals in the 87th and 88th minute respectively before substitute Kethosilie Zatsu added the thirteenth goal in the added time.
Nagaland earned an easy three points from the match.
Mero is currently the highest scorer of the tournament with five goals, followed by Thopi with four goals.
Today's matches
Sikkim vs Meghalaya at 2:00 pm
Mizoram vs Assam at 4:30 pm