Tamil Nadu erased a goal's deficit before scoring twice to defeat host Bengal 2-1 in the concluding group-B quarterfinal league match of the Santosh Trophy at the Salt lake Stadium here on Wednesday. Earlier Delhi played a goalless draw with Mizoram in the other match.
Making its second successive semifinal entry in style Tamil Nadu topped the group league tally with seven points while Bengal came second with four points.
Delhi, with three points, and Mizoram, with just one in its kitty, crashed out of the tournament.
In the two semifinals on Friday, Bengal will play Goa in the first match while Tamil Nadu will take on Punjab.
Relived of the pressure of qualifying, Bengal and Tamil Nadu played a free-flowing game which saw a fair bit attacking form both sides.
First strike
Bengal found the mark in the 16th minute when its young striker Nilendra Diwan made the most of a Jayanta Sen assist to score off a fine angular shot. Bengal's joy lasted for hardly two minutes as Tamil Nadu equalised off midfielder V.R. Murugappan, who scored with a clever lob over the Bengal goal-keeper Sandip Nandy, who charged out from his position.
The second session, which was held up a for 24 minutes as the stadium lights went off owing to a power cut, found the host trying to regain the lead but its efforts were grounded by a scrappy finishing. After Shankar Oraon had failed to find the net with an angular shot Nilendra Dewan produced a feeble 71st minute to ruin Bengal chances.
Trying a new attacking combination by fielding M. Ramesh, who scored the equaliser against Delhi in the previous match, alongside the ever-agile P.C. Riju Tamil Nadu started making regular inroads into the Bengal box.
Riju came up with his best in the 79th minute when he played a quick one-two with substitute M. Elamurugan and cleared himself inside the opponent box.
The diminutive striker then followed it up with an angular shot to put Tamil Nadu into the lead.
Earlier, needing a win to stay alive in the contest, Delhi appeared to crumble under pressure and failed to sustain the thrust that could dislodge the Mizoram defence. Instead Mizoram played a more attacking game and took control of the proceedings.
Delhi custodian Pronoy Roy had a meaningful outing as he prevented at least two clear attempts from the opponent strikers.
The results: Quarterfinal group-B league: Mizoram 0 drew with Delhi 0; Tamil Nadu 2 (V.R. Murugappan 18, P.C. Riju 79) bt Bengal 1 (Nilendra Dewan 16); Mizoram 0 drew with Delhi 0.
