ISL 2017/18: Jamshedpur FC's Jerry Mawihmingthanga scores the fastest goal in the history of the tournament
Jamshedpur FC’s attacking midfielder Jerry Mawihmingthanga became the scorer of the fastest goal in the history of the Indian Super League (ISL) when he found the back of the net on the 22nd second in his team's encounter against Kerala Blasters at the JRD Tata Sports Complex Stadium in Jamshedpur.
The home team got the game underway and straight away got into the attack. After passing the ball around at the edge of the box, Ashim Biswas threaded in a perfect through-ball into the path of Jerry, who had made an excellent run into the opposition penalty box. The Mizoram-born youngster rounded up Blasters’ shot-stopper Paul Rachubka before calmly slotting it in to give his side a very early lead in the match.
Jerry, who started his career with the DSK Shivajians Academy, came into the spotlight for the first time when he, along with fellow youngster Lallianzuala Chhangte, went to train with Liverpool in England in 2016. Last season, he was playing for NorthEast on loan from DSK. This season, though, he was selected in the seventh round of the 2017–18 ISL Players Draft by Jamshedpur.
With this goal, the 20-year-old bettered the record of former Blasters forward Chris Dagnall, who had scored in the 29th second in his team's encounter against NorthEast United at Guwahati back in 2015. The third fastest goal in ISL history is held by Mohammed Rafi, who scored in the 48th second for Blasters against FC Pune City in 2015.
For perspective, the fastest goal ever in world football was scored in 1998 by Uruguayan striker Ricardo Olivera struck who took only 2.8 seconds to get the ball into the net. Among Indians, I. M. Vijayan scored a goal in just 12 seconds against Bhutan in the 1999 South Asian Football Federation Cup.