ISL 2020-21: Strikers with most goals so far
We have witnessed 28 goals in 14 matches so far in the 2020-21 season of the Indian Super League. An average of two goals per match isn’t extraordinary but isn’t bad either. 26 of the goals have come from foreign recruits and when you consider that all teams rely on a big foreign striker to find the net every season, it isn’t surprising. Only Anirudh Thapa and Manvir Singh are the Indian scorers thus far. Disappointing but not surprising for Indian football fans.
Here we bring you a list of hitmen who have been on a rampage in Goa so far after the first two rounds of matches.
#8 Aridane Santana (Hyderabad FC)
He had nine goals in 14 matches for Odisha last season and two in three already for Hyderabad this term. Aridane guarantees goals and he is the kind of number 9 which the Nizams ever so lacked in last season’s disastrous campaign. Hyderabad find themselves among the play-off spots in these early stages of the league and much of the credit goes to the big man from Spain who has been the only source of goals for them till now.
#7 Kwesi Appiah (NorthEast United)
Filling Asamoah Gyan’s boots was not going to be easy. But his countryman Kwesi Appiah has had a great start to his journey for NorthEast. The 30-year-old has already netted twice this season and that’s half of his league tally for AFC Wimbledon in League 1 last term. One from the penalty spot to stun Mumbai City in the first game and the second one, an instinctive finish five days later against Kerala Blasters which set the ball rolling for the Highlanders in that comeback from two goals down to snatch a point. The only blow for Appiah was his penalty miss in the same game but the Ghanaian is still averaging a goal every 76 minutes till now.
#6 Idrissa Sylla (NorthEast United)
The other half of Highlanders’ goal quota has belonged to the Guinea international Idrissa Sylla. The 29-year-old saved his African counterpart Appiah’s blushes by scoring the equaliser in the 2-2 thrilller versus the Blasters. The goal was probably offside but we cannot take absolutely anything away from that stunning left-footed strike. After announcing his arrival in India in style, Sylla was rewarded with a start against Goa four days later and netted again, this time from the spot, in the 1-1 draw. For now it seems like Gerard Nus can depend on his West African duo for a regular supply of goals.
#5 Diego Maurício (Odisha FC)
With Manuel Onwu and Marcelinho failing to recreate any magic from their past seasons, somebody had to step up for Stuart Baxter’s side. Diego Maurício didn’t have the best of debuts against Hyderabad but against Jamshedpur he delivered one of the most masterful individual performances we will see all season. The Brazilian found his side two-nil down when he came on at the hour mark. He had his free kick hit the post, a poacher’s finish to halve the deficit and then a sumptuous strike from the edge of the box in the 93rd minute to salvage the first points of the season for Odisha.
#4 Roy Krishna (ATK Mohun Bagan FC)
One of the most prolific strikers in India last season was on the mark in the first two games this time as well. The Fijian drilled in the first goal of the 2020-21 season against Kerala Blasters on Day 1 and brought home all three points for ATK Mohun Bagan. They gave him an inch and he took a yard against East Bengal in the derby and his powerful drive from outside the area was a little too much for Debjit between the sticks. ATK Mohun Bagan haven’t played the best of football so far in the ISL but when you have a striker like Roy Krishna, that doesn’t matter sometimes.
#3 Igor Angulo (FC Goa)
The job on hand was massive for Igor when we arrived in Goa from Poland before the start of the season. Many had doubted if the 36-year-old was the right man to succeed Ferran Corominas in spearheading the Goa attack, especially in a season where they were going to participate in the group stages of the most prestigious club tournament in the continent. So far the doubters have shut shop as after three games, Angulo has been the only man to find the net for Goa. A two-goal blitz versus Bengaluru followed by a deft volley against NorthEast a week later means that the Spaniard is the current joint top-scorer of the ISL with three goals - two from the left foot and one from his belly. Goa have failed to win any of their first three matches and Igor Angulo is the last man to be blamed for it.
#2 Nerijus Valskis (Jamshedpur FC)
With three goals in three matches, Valskis has picked up where he left off last season and nothing less was expected from 2019-20’s golden boot winner as well. Now with a new team but the same coach, the Lithuanian’s transition to Jamshedpur has been as smooth as it gets. His first goal on his debut for his new club was a thumping header against his former club Chennaiyin and against Odisha, we saw his fourth brace in the ISL. He failed to score for the first time in five matches against Hyderabad and the JFC #9 will hope it is just a minor hiccup on his way as he sets his sights on a second straight golden boot.
#1 Adam Le Fondre (Mumbai City FC)
One of the most talked about signings of the season, Adam Le Fondre had a frustrating experience for his new club until the very end of his second game when he tucked in a 95th minute penalty against Goa to open his and his team’s account for the season. A tap-in from two yards out and another spotkick against East Bengal weren’t the toughest goals he’s scored in his 600-match career but with this boost of confidence, surely the Islanders can count on Alfie to keep on scoring as the season passes on and the Englishman adjusts to life in India.
