East Bengal see off Garhwal United for second straight win

Kalyani (West Bengal), Dec 27 (PTI) East Bengal FC picked up their second straight win in the Indian Women’s League, defeating the newly-promoted Garhwal United FC 2-1 at the Kalyani Stadium here on Saturday.

Sulanjana Raul handed the defending champions the lead in the 22nd minute before Fazila Ikwaput (63rd) doubled the advantage.

Garhwal United, who had very little to show in the majority of the match, pulled one back through substitute Monisha Singha (72nd).

Building on their 1-0 win over Sethu on Wednesday, East Bengal now sit in fourth place with a perfect record of six points out of a possible six. The Moshal Girls do have a game in hand over leaders Nita FA, who are on seven points.

After suffering their first-ever loss in the IWL, Garhwal United have slipped to the third spot with six points in three games.

Knowing the stature of the opponent they were up against, Garhwal United began cautiously, but East Bengal didn’t take much time to get on the front foot.

In the 22nd minute, Soumya Guguloth swung in an instinctive first-time cross from the right flank, and Sulanjana Raul was alert as ever in the box to volley it on target.

Ribansi was kept busy for the remainder of the first half, and the India U20 international did make some crucial saves to keep the deficit to a solitary goal. First, she stopped a quick low strike from Sulanjana’s left foot before bravely coming out of her goal to thwart Fazila’s lobbed attempt.

A few minutes later, Resty Nanziri picked out Fazila through the middle, but the latter dragged her effort wide to sum up a frustrating first half for last season’s IWL top-scorer.

However, Fazila finally found her shooting boots after the change of ends and scored the second goal of the game in the 63rd minute.

Soumya bagged the assist again, as she leapt high to meet Ashalata Devi Loitongbam’s corner. Soumya’s header deflected behind to Fazila, who didn’t think twice and hit a sizzling volley that left Ribansi rooted as the ball fizzed into the back of the net from the near post.

Being two goals down and with virtually nothing to show for in attack until that point in the game, a first defeat of the campaign looked imminent for Garhwal United. But Monisha Singha’s 72nd-minute goal instilled belief into the Delhi side that there might be something for them in the game.

Substitute Shruti Kumari’s cross from the right was too deep, but Monisha, who had also come on a few minutes earlier, chased it down with the intent of pulling the ball back into the middle for one of her teammates.

However, Monisha’s cross turned into a shot, looping above goalkeeper Panthoi Chanu Elangbam and dropping into the net as East Bengal conceded for the first time in their last seven games in all competitions. PTI PDS PDS DDV