Bhubaneswar | Defending champions Kerala rode on a lucky own goal to secure a hard-fought 3-2 win over Goa in their group A Santosh Trophy match here on Friday.

Having taken the lead, courtesy a Nijo Gilbert penalty (27th minute), Kerala looked in cruise control with Riswanali Edakkavil tapping in from close range off a corner (57th).

But in space of two minutes disaster struck as Goa pulled one back via a Mahammed Faheez penalty. Momentum soon shifted with Faheez adding a second in the 73rd minute.

Both sides missed a flurry of chances in the final 10 minutes, before Asif OM tapped into his own net to give Kerala a lucky win.

Hosts Odisha hold Maharashtra 1-1

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Buoyed by a vocal crowd at the Capital Football Arena, hosts Odisha struck late in the second-half to hold Maharashtra 1-1 in another group A fixture.

Odisha started out stronger, controlling not just possession but also creating chances aplenty in an all-action first half but failed to score the opening goal.

In the second-half Maharashtra made use of a bungled clearance with Armansh Ansari giving them the lead (57th) by scoring from close range.

Chandra Muduli cancelled out the lead in the 83rd minute.

Late comeback by Karnataka vs Punjab

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In the second afternoon game, Punjab were held to a 2-2 draw by a late Karnataka fightback.

After a goalless first half, Punjab struck twice in four minutes via Kamaldeep (65th) and Bipul Kala (69th).

Karnataka pulled one back in the 82nd minute via P Kamalesh while Robin Yadav struck the equaliser in the 90+3rd minute.

The final rounds of the Santosh Trophy got underway here.

Twelve teams have been divided into two groups of six each, and will play each other in a round robin format.

The top two teams from each group will be the first in the history of Santosh Trophy to play on foreign soil, once they move to Riyadh for the semifinals and final