IWL: Winning start for East Bengal; Gokulam holds Odisha to a draw

The Indian Women’s League 2024-25 opener at the historic East Bengal Ground saw the Red and Gold Brigade perform a worthy job on their home turf as they shrugged off Kickstart FC’s challenge 2-0 on Friday.

The winners, who led by a goal at halftime, scored their goals through their two prized recruits, Sandhiya Ranganathan and Uganda’s Resty Nanziri, to take home three points.

With both sides boasting a galaxy of National team stars in their ranks, they expectedly made a cautious start, but East Bengal slowly took over the command of the midfield to see more of the possession.

If Resty impressed with her hard work, then Anju Tamang was extremely useful with her ability to find the gaps in the rival defence.

Soumya Guguloth, another India regular on the pitch, was on a song on the wings, at least initially, and it was no wonder that she played a crucial role in providing East Bengal the lead in the 22nd minute.

Soumya’s looping cross from the right was right in the six-yard box and ever-agile Sulanjana Raul, a constant threat to the defence with her deft movements, came up with a strong header that rattled the crosspiece before returning to play.

The ball was still in the air, and Sandhiya pounced on the opportunity to try another header. This time it travelled to the target, leaving little chance for custodian Maibam Linthoingambi Devi.

East Bengal slammed in another four minutes into the second half. Ugandan Resty finally rewarded herself for her hard work as she ran through the left and found the near post with a low left-footer.

Kickstart FC, the team from Bengaluru, played their parts well, but could never really manage their affairs beyond the East Bengal 25-yard area. They had a few tricks up their sleeve, but it wasn’t enough to bother the local side defence.

Gokulam Kerala, Odisha FC begin the campaign with a point apiece

The two big favourites, Odisha FC and Gokulam Kerala FC, the champions and runners-up of the last edition, respectively, played an entertaining 1-1 draw to open their IWL 2024-25 season at the EMS Corporation Stadium on Friday.

Both goals came in the second half. While Gokulam FC took the lead in the 61st minute through Lynda Kom Serto, Odisha found the equaliser when Hemam Shilky Devi banged the target in the 87th minute.

The high-stakes game started off with Odisha dominating a lot of the possession and being the ones who created more in front of goal, the best of those chances resulting in a deflected shot that was saved by Gokulam’s goalkeeper Payal Basude.

Gokulam for their part was hugely reliant on their three foreign players for most of their gameplay, and of the three, Phoeby Owiti was the most prolific, often driving out of defence to interlink and create opportunities in the opposition third.

It was her brilliant interplay with Ratanbala Devi, in the second half that eventually resulted in Gokulam’s first clear chance at goal. After a delicate one-two, Ratanbala’s cutback was cut off by Odisha’s defence to a corner. From the half-cleared corner came a cross from the left, which Owiti headed wide.

Odisha scored the opener just as it seemed that Gokulam had gained the upper hand in the game via the newly minted Blue Tigress Lynda Kom.

The midfielder picked up a fairly innocuous pass, outside the box, turned and twisted away from her defender, before curling a brilliant left-footed effort into the top corner in the 61st minute. A diving Basude had no chance.

Gokulam’s attacking fervour became more desperate as the clock ticked away. A lack of composure seemed to be their bane, with Asem Roja Devi and Owiti guilty of shooting over when hitting the target might have been the easier option.

Both were played through on goal by chipped passes from Catherine Aringo, with only goalkeeper Shreya Hooda to beat.

They did get their equaliser eventually, late even to draw level. In the 87th minute, Odisha failed to clear a corner cleanly and the ball dropped to Shilky Devi in the six-yard area. The defender had her back to goal but wrestled for control before eventually pouncing on the loose ball to smash it into the net.

The hosts even found time to create one final chance to wrap the points deep in injury time, with Faila Ikwaput played into the box on the left, and allowed to drive through on goal. Her weak shot was gathered gratefully by Hooda.