Defending champion East Bengal FC extended its lead at the top with a 3-1 win against Sribhumi FC in their Indian Women’s League 2025-26 match at the East Bengal Ground in Kolkata on Monday.
Fazila Ikwaput’s hat-trick secured three points, taking the Moshal Girls to 21 points from seven matches. The Ugandan striker took her IWL goals tally to 54, overtaking Ngangom Bala Devi, with 51 goals, to become the competition’s second-highest scorer behind Sabitra Bhandari (60). Rimpa Haldar scored Sribhumi’s lone goal.
East Bengal dominated from the outset with an aggressive press and direct attacking play. Ikwaput found the net early on, but was denied by the offside flag.
The Ugandan remained a constant threat and was rewarded in the 37th minute when a long ball towards her was misjudged by Toijam Thoibisana Chanu, whose attempted header fell kindly for Ikwaput. She calmly slotted past the advancing Monalisha.
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East Bengal struck again within a minute of the restart. Ikwaput surged forward, cut inside, and curled a precise effort into the bottom-right corner to make it 2-0.
Ikwaput completed her hat-trick on the hour mark, turning sharply under pressure before lashing the ball past Monalisha for 3-0.
The visitors pulled one back in the 80th minute following a midfield error. Nameirakpam Arina Devi drove forward and set up Rimpa, who finished clinically past Panthoi.
It was only the second goal conceded by East Bengal in the league this season.
This was the first match of Phase 2, after 27 matches were played from December 20, 2025, to January 9, 2026. The league took a hiatus of more than three months to allow player availability for the senior and Under-20 women’s national teams camps for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in March and the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup in April.
Published on Apr 27, 2026
