Five interesting facts about the ISL 2022-23 playoffs

Some of these facts are truly astounding, and will definitely bring about awe.

The Indian Super League 2022-23 playoffs are over, and we have our two finalists Bengaluru and ATK Mohun Bagan who will be fighting for that glittering piece of silverware on the 18th of March.

This year’s playoffs were indeed special, as we got to see four of the best teams in the league lock horns and put on some thrilling bits of action. While football was at its very best in both legs of the two semi-finals, there were also some very interesting and intriguing occurrences that marked this year’s semi-finals.

So let's take a closer look at five very interesting facts regarding the 2022-23 ISL playoffs.

5. Both matches went into penalties

Never before in the history of the Indian Super League, have both the semi-final clashes been decided by a penalty shootout until the 2022-23 ISL playoffs. As mentioned earlier, the competitiveness, aggression, and ability of the teams were so at par, that neither game could be decided in the stipulated play time, and both games were forced to be decided via a penalty shootout. 

Mumbai came back from a two-goal deficit in second half of the second leg, and drew the game, whereas both ATK Mohun Bagan and Hyderabad failed to score in either leg as well as extra time, as a result of which a shootout was played.

4. Siverio missed a penalty last year too

Hyderabad lost out on penalties against ATK Mohun Bagan in the second semi-finals, after both teams played a 0-0 draw across the two legs. Two of Hyderabad's star players Bartholomew Ogbeche and Javier Siverio missed their respective penalties and made ATK Mohun Bagan’s job very easy. But did you know that the latter had missed from the spot, in last year’s finals as well?

Unfortunately, this is true. Siverio, despite being a top-level striker, has struggled from the spot in crucial and critical times and has let his team down on two very important occasions with his missed penalty.

3. Vishal Kaith becomes the keeper with the most clean sheets in a single season

With his two clean sheets in the semi-finals of the Indian Super League, Vishal Kaith now has 12 clean sheets in the Indian Super League this season, which now takes him ahead of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who previously held the record for the clean sheets in a single ISL season (11).

2. Both second legs saw goalkeepers become Man of the Match

The semi-finals of this year of ISL were very well marked by the outstanding performance of the goalkeepers. All four custodians have given their all, and have protected their goal with all their might. This valiant effort by the keepers was recognized by the league, as a result of which both the games saw the keepers being awarded the Hero of the Match award. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Vishal Kaith were the two awardees in the two games respectively, while Phurba Lachenpa and Gurmeet Singh shone between the sticks.

1. Top two teams in the league stage got knocked out

The Indian Super League has always been a league that doesn’t have any outright favourites, and indeed one of the best things about the league is its sheer unpredictability. The same was proven this campaign as well, where we saw Mumbai City FC and Hyderabad FC, who finished the season as first and second, go out in the semi-final stage at the hands of teams placed lower than them.