Akhil Rawat
AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: Fazila Ikwaput has taken the Indian Women’s League by storm. 14 goals in six matches for Gokulam Kerala FC. These are not normal figures at all. To put that into ridiculous context, the Ugandan striker has scored more goals than all other seven teams in the league.

Four goals each against Sribhumi FC and Sethu FC, while even league leaders East Bengal FC, who had conceded only once in four matches before meeting Gokulam, found Fazila too hot to handle. The best defence in the league, led by the experienced duo of Ashalata Devi and Sweety Devi, was blown away by her hat-trick. The Malabarians ran out 3-2 winners, and that’s the most significant result of the IWL 2024-25 season after six rounds. East Bengal had been flawless, opening up a four-point gap at the top after just four games, but that Fazila masterclass bunched up the title race once again, leading to the realisation that it’s not going to be as simple for the Moshal Girls as many initially thought.

But East Bengal are still firm favourites, there’s no doubt about that. There’s no side as complete in all aspects as Anthony Andrews’. In stark contrast to Gokulam Kerala, 82% of whose goals have come from Fazila, East Bengal have had five different scorers. Soumya Guguloth, always a livewire down the right flank, and Fazila’s Ugandan international teammate Resty Nanziri have scored four each, followed closely by versatile forward Sandhiya Ranganathan with three.

The indispensability of Karthika Angamuthu and Priyangka Devi in midfield cannot be stressed enough. Goalkeeper Panthoi Chanu has four clean sheets already. East Bengal haven’t had many big-margin or convincing victories, but they know how to grind out results, which is what matters the most to win a league.

Their closest rivals at the moment are Gokulam Kerala – one point behind and the only unbeaten team so far. In a way, the Malabarians’ story has panned out similarly to last season. A slow start has hurt them a bit again, with back-to-back 1-1 draws against Odisha FC and Kickstart FC meaning that they might have to spend the rest of the campaign on the heels of East Bengal. The only difference is that last season, the chase was against Odisha FC. They ultimately lost out on the title by two points.

Head coach Ranjan Chowdhury has a few things to ponder during the month-long break. Over-reliance on Fazila is one. Just one clean sheet, that too against bottom-dwellers HOPS FC, is a poor record. Bench strength seems to be another issue. On average, Chowdhury has made less than two substitutions per game out of a maximum of five. In the long run, that may not be healthy. All that being said, he has the best player in the league, by far. Period.

Fazila already has more goals in six games than she did in the entirety of last season, which means she’s only getting better and opponents still have no solution to this Ugandan sharpshooter. Also, riding on goal machines to power them to the title is nothing new for three-time champions Gokulam Kerala. Sabitra Bhandari in 2023, Elshaddai Acheampong and Manisha Kalyan in 2022 are previous examples of players who took the IWL by the scruff of its neck and brought the trophy to Malabar. Fazila is on the same path and who knows, she might just be enough to get Gokulam their fourth.

Odisha FC aren’t the Odisha FC of last season anymore. Crispin Chettri’s side are in third place and have won only half of their six matches. The big shock was losing at home to a Sethu FC side with 10 players, which was also the defending champions’ first-ever loss at the Kalinga Stadium. While a lack of goals are their biggest cause of concern, the silver lining is striker Lynda Kom Serto, who has netted in five of the six matches and is the leading Indian goalscorer in the league. After impressing at the youth level for a number of years, this is poised to be the season where the 19-year-old finally proves herself on the senior stage and also stakes a claim at being a regular in the national team.

Another team whose youngsters have done well are Sethu FC. So much so that four of their players might make their India debut later this month at the Pink Ladies Cup. Defenders Purnima Kumari and Nirmala Devi, midfielder Babina Devi and winger Malavika P have been in fine form. While that’s a great sign for head coach Shareef Khan, it’s not enough to challenge for their second IWL trophy. So far, at least. They are five points off the top, and the difference in quality with the title contenders was clearly visible in their heavy defeats to East Bengal and Gokulam Kerala.

Perhaps nobody could’ve predicted that Kickstart FC, who finished in the top three in each of the last three seasons, would be languishing in seventh place and without a win at the moment. They’ve lost a lot of points from winning positions, taking the lead in four matches before losing steam in the second half and settling for draws. Almost nothing has gone right for Chaoba Devi’s side, who find themselves in an unexpected relegation battle even with a squad full of quality.

HOPS FC are having it worse though. Also winless and with a solitary point, the Delhi side are at the foot of the table. The youngest team by average age in the league, they have struggled to match the physicality and speed of the more experienced opponents. With the lack of creativity in attack, evidenced by just one goal in six games, their season has been more about damage limitation and preventing big-margin defeats. But coach Manoj Joshi will know that his girls need to be more adventurous in attack if they are to avoid relegation.

Newly promoted sides Nita Football Academy and Sribhumi FC won’t be too disappointed with how they’ve fared so far, registering seven and six points, respectively. Sribhumi took a while to get going, losing their first three before stalwart Bala Devi found her scoring boots and single-handedly won them two games. Nita FA also did well to eke out a couple of narrow wins over HOPS and Kickstart, coming from behind in the second one. Head coach Paromita Sit shouldn’t have many complaints with her young squad. The recruitment of Ghanaian forward Rahama Jafaru, who has scored three goals in her first two matches in India, could be significant in Nita FA’s push for a top-half finish.

All in all, there’s a long way to go before the eighth IWL winners are crowned. Eight more rounds of matches, to be exact. And if last season is anything to go by, East Bengal will know there’s nothing like a comfortable lead at the top of the table. Things are equally close to call in the battle to avoid the drop as well, and the second half of the season is well poised to be an interesting affair.