MARGAO
Manipur’s Football 4 Change (F4C) team gave the fancied, Norwich City FC (NCFC) of UK a fright with a well earned 2-2 draw on the first evening of the 2nd Dream Sports Championship Football 2025 National Finals on the SAG Utorda ground on Tuesday.
In the second evening fixture of the U-17 tournament, Punjab FC overcame SESA FA 3-1, led by star striker Vishal Yadav's brace. Earlier in the day, Mohun Bagan Super Giants (MBSG) and Chennaiyin FC beat Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RFYC) and Dempo Sports Club by an identical margin of two goals to zero respectively.
The match between NCFC and Football 4 Change saw an early goal when Kishore Tiwari put F4C ahead in the 18th minute. However, Norwich's response was swift, with Benjamin Assongo equalizing just two minutes later via a penalty kick. Joseph Kipa then completed the turnaround for NCFC in the 24th minute, giving them a 2-1 advantage heading into halftime. F4C fought back in the second half and were rewarded when Gogou Kuki found the net from the penalty spot in the 68th minute to level the scores.
In the Punjab FC clash against Goa's SESA FA, Sameer broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute.
SESA responded just before the break when Suraj Thapa equalized three minutes into first-half stoppage time. The second half belonged to Vishal Yadav, who also recently made his ISL debut for the senior team after shining in the DSC Football 2025 Delhi Regional rounds. He took control of the match with two well-taken goals in the 52nd and 62nd minutes, completing a 3-1 victory for his side.
