Kolkata, April 27: The Indian Women’s League 2025–26 Phase Two kicked off with East Bengal Women and Sribhumi FC completing their Phase One games. East Bengal Women won the Kolkata derby 3–1 against Sribhumi FC at the East Bengal Ground on Monday evening. With Fazila’s hat-trick and domination from the Moshal Girls, the match was played with intensity, but the conditions outside the ground were hard to ignore.
From the start of the match, East Bengal Women picked up the rhythm, with Fazila missing a close chance from the left side inside the box. In the second minute, Fazila found the net, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
In the 31st minute, East Bengal created their first real threat. Sarita Yumnam sent a cross from the right which Fazila attempted to shoot from inside the box, though the shot went over the crossbar. In the 37th minute, East Bengal Women took the lead. Ashalata Devi sent a through ball which Fazila received and put on target.
In the 44th minute, Sribhumi FC created an effective goal-bound move which ended narrowly missed. Anju Chanu attempted a shot from just outside the box which hit the crossbar and went out, missing a golden opportunity to equalise.
After the restart, within two minutes of the second half, East Bengal Women doubled their lead. With Ashalata Devi’s through ball, Fazila received it and with a long-range shot made it 2–0. I
n the 60th minute, Fazila completed her hat-trick for the Moshal Girls. Shilky Devi passed the ball to her, Fazila beat her marker Thoibisana and placed the ball into the net.
In the 80th minute, Sribhumi FC pulled one goal back to reduce the deficit. In midfield, Arina Devi won the ball after beating Karthika, moved forward and passed it to Rimpa Haldar on the right side of the box, from where she placed the ball into the net to make it 3–1 for Sribhumi FC.
After completing the first phase with seven matches played, East Bengal Women’s points tally reached 21 after winning all their matches, while Sribhumi FC remained with 9 points from seven matches. However, the conditions outside the ground grabbed attention as the rescheduled match, shifted from 4:00 PM, required floodlights due to weather conditions. The ground’s floodlights are still not fully fixed, and after it became dark in the second half, play continued with only one floodlight functioning, which created uneasiness among the players. As the game continued with one floodlight functioning from one corner of the ground, East Bengal Women goalkeeper Panthoi Chanu faced terrible problem. She played while covering her eyes most of the time as the light was hitting her directly. Along with her, all the players faced a unique atmosphere and difficulties as the top-tier women’s league of Indian football continued in such conditions.
At the end of the match, both coaches shared their thoughts. Anthony Andrews said he was happy with all three points and with completing the first phase, but added that there are still many areas to improve. On the other hand, Sribhumi FC coach Sujata Kar spoke about the lack of preparation, as a few of her players joined the team only yesterday, and with such limited preparation they had to face a strong side like East Bengal FC.
IWL 2025-26 – East Bengal FC vs Sribhumi FC highlights
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