Indian Women's League: Gokulam Kerala, Odisha Police win big

12 goals were scored across the two games on Tuesday.

Gokulam Kerala continued their formidable form and rubber-stamped their place in the Indian Women’s League semi-finals with a game to spare after overcoming Bangalore United FC 5-1 on Tuesday. The result also confirms Kenkre FC’s progress to the last four, who are now five points clear of Sreebhumi. Bangalore needed to win to have any chance of progressing going into the final set of group fixtures, but are now officially out of the running. The locals got off to a poor start and fell behind after just three minutes. Komal Kumari’s outstretched leg deflected a cross into her own net as Gokulam struck first, albeit with a bit of fortune. BUFC responded quickly, however, and just two minutes later, Satyabati Khadia latched onto a cross-field delivery from Purnima Rao and with Aditi Chauhan off her line, Khadia went for an audacious lob over the Gokulam keeper and found the back of the net in what was a truly magnificent effort. Sabitra Bhandari’s lightning strike rattled the upright in first-half stoppage time as BUFC survived a barrage of Gokulam attacks to go into the break on level-pegging. [KH_ADWORDS type="4" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS] The second half turned out to be a different story. Just 25 seconds after the game had resumed, Gokulam’s talisman Sabitra Bhandari scored a towering header past Vinaya Seshan to hand her side the lead again. In the 51st minute, Kamala Devi made it 3-1 for Gokulam after rounding off the keeper in a 1v1 situation before Komal Kumari’s reckless challenge on Bhandari earned the Malabarians a penalty. Kamala Devi stepped up and did the job from 12 yards to make it 4-1. The floodgates were now open and Supriya Routray’s outrageous shot from about 35 yards from the left flank with the outside of her foot left the crossbar shaking. The rampage was sealed in the third minute of stoppage time, when Kamala Devi glided past three defenders to complete her hat-trick in style. Odisha Police hammer Bidesh Odisha Police registered an emphatic 6-0 victory over Bidesh XI in their penultimate Indian Women’s League Group B fixture at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Tuesday. The result sees Odisha Police rise to third in the Group B standings. They are now in with a chance to qualify for the semi finals if they can earn a win against West Bengal’s Sreebhumi FC and hope for a favourable result when Kenkre play against Bangalore United in their final group game. [KH_RELATED_NEWS title="RELATED NEWS | ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS] One change in this game that particularly that sparked attention was the deployment of Odisha goalkeeper Tikina Samal as a forward, with Rajeswari Das taking her place instead between the sticks. Arati Anima Khadia opened the scoring for Odisha in the 24th minute before a defensive scramble led to Tikina Samal getting the final touch, and making it 2-0 in the 34th minute. A wonderful solo run by Jabamani Soren, darting down the middle and leaving every defender at bay saw Odisha triple their advantage going into half-time. The second half went exactly how the first went, with Soren’s left-footed strike from 25 yards out leaving the keeper stranded for her second and Odisha’s fourth goal in the 54th minute. Soren completed her sumptuous hat-trick in the 67th minute, before setting up Tikina Samal for her second in the 85th minute -- thus completing the 6-0 rout.