Karnataka took sweet revenge for their 3-7 semifinal defeat against Kerala in the semifinal of last year's Santosh Trophy on Sunday by upsetting the defending champions 1-0 in the Group A tie of the National Football Championship at Bhubaneswar.
Abhishek Shankar Powar punished Kerala for their slow start in the 20th minute to score the only goal in the match. Kerala, whose squad consists of just three players from their title-winning team, looked bereft of ideas -- missing simple passes and making uncharacteristic errors in midfield.