Round 6 of the 2023-24 Indian Women’s League (IWL) season concluded on Thursday, with Odisha FC’s 4 – 1 victory over East Bengal. This round saw the Juggernauts and Kickstart extend their unbeaten run, while Sports Odisha registered their first point with a draw against HOPS FC. Here is a rundown of each result, along with the significant moments from each game.
Sports Odisha get their first point
The Capital Sports Arena in Bhubaneswar hosted a hard-fought contest between Sports Odisha and HOPS FC on Tuesday, 16th January. The visitors from Delhi came into this fixture off a narrow 1 – 0 defeat to league leaders Odisha FC, while Sports Odisha were hoping to end their five-game losing streak and earn their first point. Both teams were playing on the back of woeful attacking form, having netted only one goal each in the IWL season thus far.
A scrappy affair saw both teams struggle to have a convincing shot on target in the first half. The deadlock was eventually broken in the 67th minute, when HOPS’s Ghanaian center forward Fredrica Torkudzor nodded past Adrija Sarkhel into the Sports Odisha net.
However, the visitors were unable to hold on to their 1-0 lead. Sports Odisha equalized in the 84th minute through Manisha Naik, who tapped in the rebound that followed teammate Subhadra Sahoo’s long range strike.
Despite a frantic last six minutes plus injury time, the game ended 1 – 1. HOPS advanced into 5th position while Sporting Odisha remain at the bottom, albeit with a point.
Kickstart edge past Sethu FC
In the IWL round’s second game, held in Margao’s Tilak Maidan, Kickstart ousted Sethu FC 1 – 0 and extended their unbeaten run to five games (their only draw came against Gokulam Kerala in the previous round).
Laishram Bibicha Devi scored the game’s only goal, which she bravely poked beyond the onrushing Sethu FC keeper after being played in over the top by Karishma Shirvoikar in the 77th minute.
Kickstart had a couple of big chances to add a second, but proactive goalkeeping from Anjila Subba kept Sethu FC in the contest. The hosts nearly equalized in the 87th minute but Kickstart’s custodian Maibam Devi was equal to Naorem Devi’s 20-yard effort.
Having taken all three points, Kickstart momentarily went top of the league – one point ahead of Odisha FC. However, the latter had a game in hand which they played the next day. Meanwhile, Sethu FC could have moved into third place – surpassing Gokulam Kerala who had a bye week – but the loss means they maintain their 4th spot.
Odisha extend perfect record, despite conceding their first goal of this IWL season
The final match of the IWL round saw Odisha FC defeat East Bengal 4 – 1 at the East Bengal Ground in Kolkata. Odisha FC were the superior side throughout the contest, and it reflected on the scoreboard within six minutes – when unmarked Juli Kishan tapped in a corner from the back post. The visitors nearly doubled their lead within a minute, but a wild sequence of events saw East Bengal goalkeeper Keisham Chanu thwart Pyari Xaxa in a one-on-one situation before Karthika Angamuthu roofed the follow up.
In the 22nd minute Xaxa made amends for her earlier miss with a brilliant solo goal: bringing the ball down on the left flank, cutting in past three defenders, and smashing it past Chanu into the top right corner. The lead was soon tripled by Win Theingi Tun, who took advantage of Chanu’s failed attempt at gathering a cross.
Going into the break, with the scoreline reading 3 – 0 and the hosts rarely venturing into their attacking half, the match seemed all but settled. However, East Bengal were thrown a lifeline just after the hour mark as a rare attacking move resulted in Odisha FC defender Manisa Panna bundling the ball into her own net. This became the first goal the Juggernauts have conceded in the IWL this season, ending their 4-match clean sheet run.
Despite being the first team to breach Odisha’s defense this season, East Bengal could not repeat the feat in the remaining minutes. In fact, it was the visitors who added one more through Malati Munda in the final seconds of injury time.
With this convincing victory, the visiting Juggernauts sustained their perfect record (five wins, no draws, no losses) and re-claimed their top-of-the-table position (from Kickstart). On the other hand, East Bengal drop to second from bottom. Head coach Dipankar Biswas will need to address East Bengal’s defensive liabilities if they are to do any better; his side has conceded twelve goals in five games, the second worst in the league (Sports Odisha have let in eighteen).
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