ISL 2020-21: Anirudh Thapa of Chennaiyin FC becomes the first Indian goalscorer of the season

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Anirudh Thapa scores for Chennaiyin FC in the opening minute of the match against Jamshedpur FC

Chennaiyin FC defeated Jamshedpur FC 2-1 in an enthralling contest in an Indian Super League (ISL) encounter at Vasco, Goa on Tuesday. The match also saw an Indian name figure in the scoresheet for the first time in the seventh season as Anirudh Thapa broke the deadlock in the opening minute of the contest.

Dispossessing Jitendra Singh, Chennaiyin FC midfielder Rafael Crivellaro passed the ball to Esmael Goncalves. The Guinea-Bissau international player found an unmarked Anirudh Thapa and passed the ball to him.

The India international made no mistake in smashing the ball home. Thapa's goal is also the fastest of the 2020-21 season of ISL, so far.

A strong start to the season! 💪🏻💙#AllInForChennaiyin #JFCCFC pic.twitter.com/vw4WMg2QVV

— Chennaiyin FC 🏆🏆 (@ChennaiyinFC) November 24, 2020

Chennaiyin FC later doubled the lead with Goncalves converting a penalty later in the contest. Jamshedpur FC striker Nerijus Valskis scored a goal for the opposition, however, it turned out to be mere consolation as no team found the back of the net in the second half.

All the previous goals in this edition of ISL were scored by foreign players. Roy Krishna and Kwesi Appiah were the goal-scorers for ATK Mohun Bagan and NorthEast United FC, respectively, in their wins.

In the next match, Cleiton Silva and Juanan scored for Bengaluru FC, while Igor Angulo struck a brace to level things for FC Goa. For Hyderabad FC, it was Aridane Santana whose penalty proved to be the difference.

Out of 10 goals in 5 matches we have 9 goals from foreign players and one goal from #IndianFootball player in #ISL season 7.

Now important is how we can improve this ratio of Indian goal scorers.

What is your predictions? Will the ratio of 9:1 will stay in favour of imports?

— Shaji Prabhakaran (@Shaji4Football) November 24, 2020

It took five matches for an Indian player to find his name in the score-sheet with all the rest of the nine goals being scored by foreign players. With most ISL clubs deploying foreign players in goalscoring positions, it remains to be seen how many goals Indian players can score by the end of the tournament.

Season-wise list of first Indian goalscorers in ISL

2014 - Balwant Singh (Chennaiyin FC)

2015 - Jeje Lalpekhlua (Chennaiyin FC)

2016 - Jayesh Rane (Chennaiyin FC)

2017/18 - Mandar Rao Dessai (FC Goa)

2018/19 - Rana Gharami (Delhi Dynamos)

2019/20 - Seiminlen Doungel (FC Goa)

2020/21 - Anirudh Thapa (Chennaiyin FC)

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