Hero IWL: Gokulam maintain perfect record on their way to Semi-finals

by Chittu Shetty May 15, 2019

Gokulam Kerala FC finished their Group I campaign with a perfect record as they beat Hans Football Club from Delhi by a convincing 3-1 margin at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana on Wednesday.

Anju Tamang, Ranjana Chanu and captain Dalima Chhibber scored for Gokulam, while Anushka Samuel netted one for Hans Women.

Gokulam, who have already secured a spot in the semifinals, took the early initiative, as their forward Anju Tamang put them in the lead on the 10th minute. However, Hans took just a little over 10 minutes to get back on level terms, when Anushka Samuel converted a chance.

The side from Kerala dominated play for most of the first half, and eventually regained their lead, when Ranjana Chanu scored an absolute blinder of a goal. Being played into some space on the right, she took a touch and curled a left footer above and around Hans keeper Vanshika Rana.

Gokulam carried on much in the same vein in the second half as well, with captain Dalima Chhibber dominating in the middle of the park, while teenage sensation Manisha led the line for the Kerala side. Eventually, Gokulam captain Dalima Chhibber extended their lead a little after the hour mark, when she the ball was crossed in from the left and she tapped it into the goal from inside the box.

Hans had the chance to halve the lead mid-way through the second half, when Anushka was played through on goal as she beat the Gokulam offside trap. She only had goalkeeper Linthoi to beat, but the latter made a fine save to keep Gokulam’s two-goal cushion.

With this result, Gokulam finish the group with five wins out of as many matches, having scored a total of 16 and conceded just one.

For stats, timeline, pictures on this game, visit here—> Match Center

Player of the Match – Dalima Chhibber

“From here our main goal now is to qualify from the semifinal and take the championship!. 5 wins in 5 games, I’m very happy and I’m very proud of the team. And we’re taking a lot of positives; we’re going to be working on our mistakes before the semifinals.”

– Dalima Chhibber

– Courtesy of AIFF media and @WomensFootieIND

For fixtures, group standings, feature articles, match reports and tournament stats on Hero IWL, visit here–> Hero Indian Women League