Defending Indian Women’s League champions Gokulam Kerala FC bounced back from their 2-0 loss to Odisha FC with a comprehensive 8-0 win over Sports Odisha at the EMS Corporation Stadium on Saturday. The home side led 6-0 at the half time.
Though not displaying a similar class and dominance as they did in the previous seasons, Gokulam are very much in contention in the current edition with seven points from four matches, having won two, lost one and drawn one. The big win on Saturday will certainly bolster their claim.
On the other hands, Sports Odisha have endured a poor start to the season failing to secure any points from their four matches this season. The club have conceded 16 goals and scored only once.
The Sports Odisha defence had no answer against the Gokulam onslaught. The home side tormented the rival goal with relentless attacks and once they picked up the first goal in the fourth minute through Sandhiya Ranganathan, the match virtually turned into one-way traffic deep into the Sports Odisha area.
Packed with international players in their ranks, Gokulam took only eight more minutes to find the target for the second time. A rather innocuous corner kick turned dangerous when Sports Odisha defenders fumbled to clear the ball and experienced Anju Tamang made the most of it by tapping over the goalline from close range.
Thereafter, Gokulam simply toyed with their opponents, scoring almost at will. Starting in the 23rd minute, they scored four goals within a span of 21 minutes, with Soumya Guguloth, Asem Roja Devi and Ugandan striker Fazila Ikwaput finding the target.
After netting half a dozen times in the first half, Gokulam could score only twice in the second, with both Guguloth and Anju Tamang picking up their second goals of the match. With the win, the Kerala side climbed to third in the points table while Sports Odisha continued to remain in the bottom of the table.