Karnataka humbles Andhra Pradesh in football tourney

: Karnataka defeated Andhra Pradesh 5-0 in a Group A match of the South Zone qualifier of the 73rd Santosh Trophy football tournament at Bharathi stadium here Tuesday.

Andhra was given a reality check by Karnataka, after it had held a strong Tamil Nadu team 1-1 in its opening fixture on Sunday.

Though the scores indicate it to be a romp for Karnataka, the rivals put up a good fight though defensive lapses and inability to pierce the opponents penalty area proved costly.

The two teams went hard at each other in the first half hour of the game, before Leon Augustine broke through for Karnataka with a goal in the 32nd minute.

A defensive lapse resulted in Augustine slotting home.

The second goal came through a penalty when Mandir Singh scored after the referee showed the spot after a rough tackle by Andhras Gogula Manjunatha from behind.

He in fact copped a red card for his misadventure.

After a quiet period which saw no goals and several threatening moves by Karnataka, a semifinalist in the championship last year, Sunil Kumar converted a penalty in the 73rd to put the team 3-0 ahead.

Karnataka added two more goals in the dying minutes as Shefeel blasted one past the rival custodian in the first minute of added time (90+1) and then Nikhil Raj rounded off the tally by scoring in the third minute of stoppage time.

Andhra is out of the reckoning for qualification for the main rounds while host Tamil Nadu needs to beat Karnataka by a huge margin to top the group.

Only the group winners advance to the main rounds.

Defending champion Kerala is in Group B with Telangana, Puducherry and Services and was held to goalless draw in its opening match against Telangana.