Elshaddai hat-trick maintains Gokulam Kerala's perfect run in IWL

Sethu FC and PIFA Sports also registered consecutive wins in the competition.

Gokulam Kerala snatched yet another landslide victory in the Indian Women’s League (IWL) 2022, as they defeated ARA FC 8-0 at the Kalinga Stadium on Thursday, May 5. The win takes them back to the top of the IWL points table.

Gokulam’s Ghanaian forward Elshaddai Acheampong netted a hat-trick after coming off the bench, to bag the Hero of the Match award.

Manisha Kalyan opened the scoring for the defending champions in the 5th minute, netting an easy tap-in to make it 1-0. The side looked dominant right from the start and enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening minutes. 

At the half hour mark, Dangmei Grace capitalised on an error made by ARA FC defenders while clearing their lines and beat the keeper from close range to make it 2-0. 

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After switching sides, there was no stopping Gokulam Kerala. The team went on a goalscoring spree with Soumya Guguloth marking the beginning of it in the 49th minute via a towering header. Before being substituted off, Myanmar international Win Tun made it 4-0, after the ARA FC defence failed to clear steer of the ball again. 

In the 70th minute, substitute Elshaddai Acheampong scored off a brilliant header after Dalima Chhibber provided her with a perfectly-lobbed ball inside the box. With the score 5-0, Gokulam Kerala had sealed the three points.

However, the Malabarians looked relentless and went on to score their sixth in the 79th minute. Elshaddai was behind the ball once again as she converted from inside the box to score her seventh of the Hero IWL campaign.

Three minutes later, another substitute Jyoti also got onto the scoresheet as she fired a shot into the top right corner from the left side of the box. To add a final nail in the coffin for ARA FC, Elshaddai netted in the third minute of added time making it 8-0. The Ghanaian forward met Jyoti’s tantalising cross and scored with her first touch to complete her hat-trick.

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Sethu FC registers sixth consecutive win

Sethu FC earned their sixth consecutive victory in the Indian Women's League (IWL) after beating Sports Odisha 4-0 today at the Capital Stadium. A brace from Durga ensured full points for the Chennai-based side as they maintain the top position in the league table.

Kenyan forward Elizabeth helped Sethu bag an early lead within the 4th minute of the game. Renu came up with a cross from the right flank which Elizabeth did no mistake to send to the back of the net.

Sethu doubled the lead in a blink of a minute with Karthika scoring from a header in the 5th minute.

Sports Odisha afforded Sethu FC a lot of space at the back leading the latter to create a plethora of chances. And it cost Odisha vehemently as Sethu increased the lead to 3-0 within 8 minutes of the game. This time midfielder Durga took the chance of a chaotic situation inside the Odisha box.

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Just at the half an hour mark Durga made it a brace for herself with a terrific goal.Sethu FC continued to dominate the game going into the breather.

After the break, Odisha seemed to be on the better side. They created few chances but failed to convert going past the Sethu defence. But the best opportunity came for Odisha in the 65th minute.

As the game progressed this half turned out to be one of the missed chances as both sides failed to convert some sure chances. Sports Odisha kept things to a halt as they refrained from conceding more with the game ending as a 4-0 victory for Sethu FC.

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PIFA Sports beat Mata Rukmani

PIFA earned their second win in the Indian Women’s League (IWL) as they walked away with an emphatic 1-3 victory against Mata Rukmani today at the 7th Battalion Ground.

The game started off well with both sides creating chances but it remained goalless in the first quarter of the game. The deadlock was broken by PIFA when Karen converted from the spot-kick in the 25th minute. 

Thereafter in the 35th minute, Priyanka pulled one back for Mata Rukmani to balance the scoresheet. She came up with a wonderful run in the middle creating a chance for Ripika inside the box but the PIFA custodian saved it initially. But Priyanka got the rebound and did no mistake to volley it inside.

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Going into the lemon break it remained all squares as both sides missed chances to increase their lead.

After the breather, PIFA seemed quite sharp as they got hold of the momentum. Just near the hour mark PIFA skipper Karen doubled the lead and made it a brace for herself.

In the 61st minute, PIFA found the net once again when Lalnunsiami scored from a screamer inside the box to make it 1-3.

After this win PIFA stands 7th in the league table with 7 points from 6 matches. On the other hand, Mata Rukmani goes down to 10th after two consecutive losses.

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