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Two goals in injury time allow Mumbai Knights to pick a come-from-behind win, while Aspire end their campaign on a high with a 3-0 win after bowing out of the competition on head-to-head against Kenkre FC
Having pumped in 16 goals in their final game PIFA SC ended their league stage at 22 points and a goal difference of 40. Knights who were at 19 points and had a GD of 34 goals needed a 7-0 win to take the top spots. However, things didn’t start as planned as Kolhapur Warriors were up for a fight. Starting out brightly, Kolhapur top scorer Samrudhi Katkole broke free of her marker to slot home the opening goal of the game. This was the first time any team had managed to breach the strong Mumbai Knights defence as until this point they had no conceded a single goal.
Mumbai Knights soon fought back as Priyanka Sujeesh slotted home the equalizer in the 20th minute to make it 1-1. The game moved back and forth for majority of the time as both sides tried hard to find the net. In search of win, Coach Steven Dias subbed in Mmehak Lobo, Sapna Jaiswar and Alexandra early in the second half, however Kolhapur defence stood strong to deny their opponents any clear chances.
It wasn’t until the 90th minute when Subsitutie Mmehak slotted home the equalizer to make it 2-1 for Mumbai Knights, A minute later, Priyanka added another to put the game to bed.
FT: Kolhapur Warriors (Samrudhi Katkole 10′) 1 – 3 Mumbai Knights (Priyanka 20′ ,90+3′, Mmehak 90′)
Meanwhile in the final game of the League campaign, Aspire FC produced a clinical performance to beat Puneri Warriors 3-0. The win brought Aspire FC on par with Kenkre FC on points with both having picked 13 points during the campaign. However due to the better head to head record of Kenkre when they defeated Aspire 4-0, the Pune outfit had to bow out of competition.
Coming into the game, the top 4 had already been decided, yet Aspire did not let it affect their play, producing a dominating display against city rivals to finish the campaign on high. Gita Das struck a brace with goals on either side of the half while Asmi Kulkarni slooted one home to complete the 3-0 win.
FT: Puneri Warriors 0 – 3 Aspire FC (Gita Das 45+1′, 81′, Asmi Kulkarni 47′)
