West Bengal maintained their perfect start to the final round of the Santosh Trophy 2025-26, scoring a last-minute goal to beat Rajasthan 1-0 at Dhakuakhana on Sunday.
After being denied the goal for a long time, substitute Sayan Banerjee outran the rest in the box and headed home in the 89th minute of regular time as West Bengal heaved a sigh of relief.
The defending champions have nine points from three matches and are at the top of Group A. Despite the loss, Rajasthan are second with six points, ahead of Tamil Nadu, which also has six points.
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Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu recorded an expert 3-0 win over Nagaland for the second set of full points. Striker A. Regan took the lead in the 43rd minute, as the team led 1-0 at halftime. Suraj Kumar P. added another in the 65th minute while Devadath S. completed the tally in the 89th as it won very comfortably.
Meanwhile, hosts Assam managed to hold Uttarakhand to a 1-1 draw in front of a crowd of 3,000 at the Silapathar Football Stadium. Nirmal Singh Bisht had given Uttarakhand the lead before Dipu Gohain equalized in the second half to secure a point for the hosts.
Published on January 25, 2026
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