IWL: East Bengal and Gokulam Kerala continue their winning run

Ghanaian striker Elshaddai Acheampong ransacked the rival defense with a quick hat-trick as East Bengal FC defeated Odisha FC 3-1 in the Indian Women’s League 2024-25 at the Kalinga Stadium on Sunday.

Currently, the table toppers, the Kolkata side, have 18 points from seven matches. Odisha FC are placed third with 11 points from seven outings.

East Bengal owe their victory largely to Elshaddai, who took the wind out of Odisha FC by completing her hat trick in 38 minutes. Another Ghanaian, Jennifer Kankam Yeboah, found the target from an acute angle in the 74th minute to reduce the margin for Odisha FC.

Elshaddai is a quality poacher and opportunistic striker who can convert half-chances into potential goals. Her skills were on display early in the match, even though defending champions Odisha FC were making the right noises near the East Bengal goalmouth.

After Lynda Kom and Pyari Xaxa gave away the chances that came their way, East Bengal struck at the other end in the seventh minute.

Elshaddai had two able partners in Soumya Guguloth and Sulanjana Raul, who worked in tandem to leave Odisha's defense thoroughly embarrassed. Soumya’s cross from the right inside the box was quickly dispatched by diminutive Sulanjana for Elshaddai. The Ghanaian took a quick turn and smashed the ball past goalkeeper Shreya Hooda.

Further misery was in store for Odisha in the 31st minute when Sulanjana ran in off a counterattack before releasing the ball for an unmarked Elshaddai at the right time. All Elshaddai had to do was send it past a hapless Shreya.

Elshaddai was proving to be a thorn in the flesh of Odisha FC. In the 38th minute, she darted into the box from the right before a desperate Maryam Juke Ibrahim in Odisha's defense brought her down.

Elshaddai’s conversion from the resultant penalty was solid; she sent it low to the far corner. Shreya Hooda had no chance to go for it. Elshaddai has so far scored six goals in the ongoing IWL.

Odisha FC, under national coach Crispin Chettri, were too stunned to react to this early onslaught that snatched the match away from them. Though they never stopped asking questions in the rival area, especially after Jennifer’s goal, their inability to convert chances cost them dearly.

The home side should consider themselves lucky for not losing by a bigger margin. In the second half, Sulanjana could have added two more, and it could have been a tennis-like score had Ugandan Resty Nanziri’s shot not hit the post.

Gokulam Kerala blank Nita FA to win five in a row

Gokulam Kerala FC kept the pressure on leaders East Bengal FC with a comfortable 2-0 win over Nita Football Academy in the IWL at the Capital Football Arena on Sunday, March 9, 2025. The Malabarians led 1-0 at the break.

Shubhangi Singh (2’) and Shilky Devi (90+2’) scored the two goals that kept Gokulam Kerala in the hunt for their fourth IWL title. They are on 17 points from seven matches, just one behind table-toppers East Bengal FC.

The Malabarians are the only undefeated side in IWL 2024-25 so far and have accrued an impressive five wins on the trot.

Gokulam seemed to have seamlessly locked back in, picking up right from where they left off before the mid-season break, and took the lead in the 2nd minute via Shubhangi Singh.

As early as it was, the wingback’s goal was the product of a goalkeeping error. Having drifted wide to the left flank, Shubhangi crossed the ball low into the box, seemingly safe into Sasmita Parida’s gloves, only for the latter to spill it across the line.

From there on, Gokulam was the victim of their luck; they created chances aplenty, but their finishing left a lot to be desired.

Not long after the opener, Muskan Subba unleashed a low and hard effort from outside the box, towards the far corner, past a diving Parida, only to see it bounce off the post. Even then, it required Parida to react sharply, as the rebound off her back looked to be squeaking past the line. She recovered quickly to stop its trajectory.

Gokulam’s striker, Fazila Ikwaput, has been in spectacular form, having scored 14 of her team’s 17 goals this season. Her goals are more than the next three highest scorers combined.

However, the Ugandan striker did not have the best of days on the pitch against Nita FA, as she missed a few chances that she would otherwise be expected to put away.

The keenest of such chances came when, having been played through with a brilliant first-time pass into the six-yard area and left with only the keeper to beat, she proceeded to miss the target entirely.

Nita turned out for the second half with a lot more urgency and even tested Gokulam’s defense and goalkeeper Payal Basude a few times in the period.

The visitors’ experience, know-how, and quality were visibly superior, and they were able not just to thwart the attacks but also to keep Nita’s defense guessing. Shilky Devi added a second goal for them in injury time, firing from near the penalty spot to ensure the points.