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Follow UsKerala were crowned champions of the 75th Santosh Trophy 2022 at the Payyanad Stadium in Manjeri, Malappuram on Monday after a thrilling penalty shootout.
At the end of a dramatic final, Kerala edged West Bengal 5-4. The match was tied 1-1 in regulation time. Substitute Sajal Bag had missed Bengal's second spot kick while Kerala converted all five of theirs to triumph.
It is Kerala's seventh Santosh Trophy.
Earlier, Kerala had crawled their way back with a 116th minute equaliser to force penalties after Bengal had taken the lead in the first half of extra time.
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Dilip Orawn had thought he had won it for Bengal, but substitute Ajayan stepped up to head in a late equaliser as the home crowd went berserk.
Earlier, in normal time, both sides got plenty of chances to score, as they played some exciting end-to-end football in the finals of Santosh Trophy 2022.
In the shootout, Bengal had to pay dearly for missing out on its second attempt, from Sajal Bag. All the other kicks went in. When the last of those kicks, taken by Kerala's M. Faslurahman, kissed the right top corner, the stadium erupted once again.
The last time they bagged the trophy was during the 2017/18 season when they defeated the same opponents in the penalty shootout at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
The last time Kerala had lifted a Santosh Trophy on home soil was in 1993. Back then, Kerala had defeated Maharashtra 2-0 in the final that was played at the Maharaja's College Ground in Ernakulam.
West Bengal, who are the most successful team in the history of the competition with 32 titles, lost their 14th Santosh Trophy final.
Kerala are now the third most successful team after Punjab (eight titles) and West Bengal (32).