THE INDIAN WOMEN'S LEAGUE kicked off today with crucial wins for Sports Odisha and Misaka United in Ahmedabad.
The 8:00 am kick-offs were not broadcast on any platform, after AIFF's decision to only live stream the afternoon fixtures (4:30 pm) of the women's top flight league this season.
In the match at TransStadia, Misaka United FC delivered a sustained performance to beat Mata Rukmani FC by a 2-0 margin. After a hard-fought first half, Lalrinmuani delivered the breakthrough for Misaka during added time. In the second half, she struck again, giving her club a comfortable cushion to secure the three points.
Meanwhile at Shahibaug, Sports Odisha had a firestorm of a second half battle with HOPS FC (House of Power Soccer Football Club) but managed to bag the win in the last minute. Early in the second half, Rekha Poudel and Manisha Naik scored for Sports Odisha and it looked like the game was theirs for the taking. But HOPS fought back. But in the 74 minute mark, Shailja got the first goal for her club and soon afterwards, Rajni Bala got the equalizer.
The rest of the game saw an intense back-and-forth where both teams did everything to get the final word. But ultimately, it came in the favour of Sports Odisha, at the very end, 5 minutes into injury time, when Anju - who had come on as a substitute in the second half - found the net.
Misaka will return to action on 29th April against HOPS FC, while Sports Odisha's next match is against defending champions Gokulam Kerala FC on the same day.