Amritsar, Nov 21: Odisha had an easy outing on the opening day of Group F qualifiers in the 78th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy when they defeated Madhya Pradesh 6-1 at the GNDU Sports Complex here on Thursday. The winners led 4-0 at halftime. Group F has three teams, the third team being Chhattisgarh. 

Odisha took an early grip on the match as they opened the scoring in the 11th minute when a cross from the right was tapped in by Arbin Lakra. The winners increased the lead in the 26th minute after striker Roshan Panna spectacularly weaved through a host of defenders to beat goalkeeper Salamuddin Khan.

Two more goals came in the first half. After Jitu Muduli slammed in a cross from the right by Arbin Lakra in the 37th minute, Kartik Hantal scored the fourth goal during the add-on time of the first half.

In the second half, Hantal scored again in the 64th minute before Shubham Mane pulled one back for Madhya Pradesh. Substitute Rahul Mukhi rounded off the tally for Odisha with a penalty during the closing stages.

Friday fixtures:

Group A (Amritsar): Himachal Pradesh vs Jammu & Kashmir (10:30 am); Punjab vs Ladakh (2:30 pm).

Group E (Nalbari, Assam): Nagaland vs Meghalaya (9 am); Arunachal Pradesh vs Assam (2 pm).

Group H (Kozhikode): Railways vs Pondicherry (7:30 am); Lakshadweep vs Kerala (3:30 pm).

--IANS

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