IWL 2025-26: East Bengal stop Garhwal's winning run; Pyari Xaxa bags second straight hat-trick

Pyari Xaxa’s hat-trick run continued as Nita FA remained unbeaten at whereas defending Champions East Bengal edged past Garwhal FC at the 2025-26 IWL Matchday-3 on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Sribhumi FC registered its second consecutive win against SESA FA. On the other hand, Gokulam Kerala snatched a point from Sethu FC.

Second consecutive hat-trick for Pyari Xaxa

Pyari Xaxa (2’, 31’, 76’) scored her second hat-trick in as many matches, helping her side take the game away from Kickstart in the first half itself.

Nita FA’s Togolese forward Amiratou N’Djambara (38’) and India U20 international Neha (64’) scored one each.

Nita FA remain at the top of the league at the moment, with seven points from three matches, after their second win by a margin of five goals.

They won their last game 6-1 against Sesa FA. Kickstart, meanwhile, are yet to score a point in their three matches, and now languish in the relegation zone.

Sribhumi continue its winning run against Sesa.

Sribhumi FC continued their perfect start to the Indian Women’s League 2025-26 with a 1-0 victory against Sesa Football Academy at the Kalyani Stadium.

Anju Tamang’s (20’) first-half strike proved decisive as the West Bengal side registered their second consecutive win of the campaign. They now have six points from two matches and are second in the table.

Having opened their season with a commanding 4-0 triumph over Gokulam Kerala FC, Sribhumi took to the field with confidence and purpose

East Bengal end Garhwal's winning run

East Bengal FC picked up their second straight win in the Indian Women’s League 2025-26, defeating newly-promoted Garhwal United FC 2-1 at the Kalyani Stadium.

Sulanjana Raul handed the defending champions the lead in the 22nd minute before Fazila Ikwaput (63′) doubled the advantage early in the second half.

Garhwal United, who had very little to show for going forward in the majority of the match, pulled one back through substitute Monisha Singha (72′).

Building on their 1-0 win over Sethu on Wednesday, East Bengal now sit in fourth place with a perfect record of six points out of a possible six.

The Moshal Girls do have a game in hand over leaders Nita FA, who are on seven points. After suffering their first-ever loss in the IWL, Garhwal United have slipped to the third spot with six points in three games.

Gokulam Kerala snatch 1 point from Sethu FC

Gokulam Kerala FC picked up their second point in the Indian Women’s League 2025-26, with a 1-1 draw against former champions Sethu FC.

Muskan Subba's (90+3') injury-time goal helped Gokulam to avoid a second successive defeat and snatch a point from the game. Kaviya P. (16') scored the only goal for Sethu FC.

Both teams entered the contest on the back of defeats in their previous outings. Now, with this draw, Sethu FC slip to fifth place, while two-time champions Gokulam FC remain in sixth with 2 points.