AFC Women's Club Championship | Gokulam Kerala win final league game against FC Bunyodkor, bow out of tournament
A file image of Gokulam Kerala.
|(Twitter)
Indian club Gokulam Kerala FC finally claimed a victory over Uzbek side FC Bunyodkor at the AFC Women's Club Championship group stage game. Despite the 3-1 win, the Kerala side is of the tournament, after they lost their first two games to Amman SC and Shahrdari Sirjan earlier in the tournament.
Kerala started on a positive note as Ghanaian striker Elshaddai Acheampong started the scoring in the 33rd minute. To maintain the lead, the club went in defensive mode for rest of the half, and continued to lead 1-0. Soon in the second half, Bunyodkor's captain Luiza Sadirova was sent off for her challenge on Elshaddai in the box.
And then, Manisha Kalyan doubled the lead in the 62nd minute. Gokulam extended their domination with a fine finish from Columbian Steffany as the side continued its attacks. The Uzbekistan side came close to taking the lead in the 18th minute when Nozimova forced a save from Shreya, who also stopped Ergasheva's follow-up from close range.
Bunyodkor's Umida Zoirova went past the Gokulam defence before slotting home to reduce the deficit. Gokulam, however, restored their two-goal advantage in the 68th minute when substitute Karen Stefanny Paez scored from close range after Acheampong's shot was denied by the bar.
