Nagpur: Leading from the front, Humayl Sheikh scored a goal each in either half as Nagpur defeated Akola 3-1 to enter the quarterfinals of the Maharashtra State (WIFA) Junior boys football championship at Shirpur, Dhule, on Friday.
As early as the fifth minute, in-form Nagpur forward Akshay Pande drew first blood as the next 40 minutes remained goalless, with Akola tightening their defence. A defensive lapse at the stroke of half-time helped Humayl to find the net, and the Nagpur skipper doubled the lead in his 45th minute effort.
After the change of ends, Akola players tried many tricks to bring parity, but Humayl stretched the lead to 3-0 in the 65th minute. Two minutes later, Mohammad Mirza scored the only goal for Akola as Nagpur players defended well to register a facile 3-1 victory for their third successive triumph.
In the quarterfinals, Nagpur will face Mumbai on Saturday.
