ISL 2018-19: Modou Sougou becomes the first player to score four goals in ISL history in a single match
What's the story?
Modou Sougou became the first player in the ISL history to score four goals in a single match when his side Mumbai City FC obliterated Kerala Blasters 6-1 at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai. A total of 12 players had scored hat-tricks, with Canada's Ian Hume achieving the feat thrice.
However, none of them had scored four goals in a single match. The Senegalese international, Modou Sougou, etched his name into the history books by doing so on Sunday.
In case you don't know...
Since the past four seasons of the Hero Indian Super League, no player has been able to score four goals in a single match. In this season, only Bartholomew Ogbeche of Northeast United FC scored a hat-trick in their 4-3 win over Chennaiyin FC.
Modou Sougou scored a hat-trick in the first thirty minutes of the match itself. However, his thirst didn't get quenched there and, he knocked one past the hapless Dheeraj Singh in the dying minutes of the second half to score his fourth goal.
The heart of the matter
Modou Sougou drew first blood for Mumbai City FC in the 12th minute when he connected Paulo Machado's low cross from the left wing. He doubled the lead three minutes later thanks to a grave error from the Kerala goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem.
In an attempt to build the game from the back, the FIFA U-17 World Cupper misplaced a pass towards Raynier Fernandes who rolled the ball onto the path of the Senegalese. Modou Sougou curled the ball from the edge of the box, leaving the goalkeeper no chance whatsoever to save it.
After Kerala Blasters scored a goal back, Modou Sougou restored the two-goal cushion by nodding in Subhasish Bose's cross from the left wing. He, finally, got his fourth goal at the 94th minute of the game after the Kerala Blasters' defenders suffered a lapse of concentration.
What's next?
The four goals have taken Modou Sougou to the second spot in the 2018-19 season of Indian Super League's top goalscorers' list, tied with Northeast United FC's Bartholomew Ogbeche. The 33-year-old, with 9 goals to his name, is only a goal behind FC Goa's Ferran Corominas in the leading goalscorers' list.
The race to win the Golden Boot of 2018-19 Hero Indian Super League has now become a three-way race between Modou Sougou, Bartholomew Ogbeche, and Ferran Corominas. Those players, whose teams will qualify for the semi-finals, will have a higher chance of winning the accolade.