Indian football: Five iconic striking partnerships in recent times

We have seen some breathtaking attacking duos who combined to make a deadly strikeforce over the years.

The Indian football scene has never been short of brilliant attacking players, whether they came from a foreign country or were domestic. Moreover, there were times when these attack-minded gifted players joined forces to produce scintillating football and score plenty of goals for their teams. For example, in the current campaign of the Indian Super League, the duo of Roy Krishna and David Williams have attracted a lot of attention and impressed the fans with their chemistry and combination play. They are playing with a synergy that has caused problems for every opposition defence. That gives us the opportunity to look back and shift the focus towards some iconic striking partnerships that have graced Indian football in recent times: [KH_ADWORDS type="3" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS]

5. David Williams and Roy Kirshna

ATK made a statement before the season started, when they announced the double signing of two A-League stars from Wellington Phoenix in Roy Krishna and David Williams. The duo had been impressive in Australia’s top division, with the former bagging the Golden Boot in the previous term. The secret to ATK’s success this season was to get Williams in addition to Krishna, as the duo have the perfect understanding between them and complement each other. After nine fixtures, the outfit have scored 18 goals, out of which, 12 have been scored by Krishna (8) and Williams (4). The second half of the season is yet to be played, which means that their goal stats will only increase further and could propel their team to a title at the end of the campaign.

4. John Stiven Mendoza and Jeje Lalpekhlua

When Chennaiyin FC won the ISL back in 2015, their success was largely credited to their mesmerizing Colombian striker, John Stiven Mendoza. The forward was the top scorer for the Marina Machans in the campaign, after netting 13 goals in 16 games, including the late winner for the title in the final against FC Goa. He developed a brilliant partnership with the Indian national team player, Jeje Lalpekhlua, who was himself at the top of his game back then. The Mizoram-born striker scored six goals and was the second-highest Indian goalscorer in the whole campaign. The speedy duo were a menace to deal with and owing to their brilliant chemistry, they interchanged positions smartly, making it difficult for defenders to mark them. [KH_ADWORDS type="4" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS]

3. Ferran Corominas and Manuel Lanzarote

The current skipper of the Gaurs, Ferran Corominas, signed for the team back in 2017-18 campaign and took the league by storm in his first season. The Brazillian was the reason behind FC Goa’s attacking might in that term, where the outfit scored the most number of goals in the league stages, enabling them to qualify for the playoffs. Moreover, he had Manuel Lanzarote by his side, who was scoring bucket full of goals as well. Out of 43 goals that the team scored, 31 were scored by the pair who were unstoppable together. While Corominas collected 18 strikes, Lanzarote managed to score 13 goals to his name. However, they also had 11 assists, with Corominas making five and Lanzarote assisting on six occasions. Unfortunately, their efforts were not enough to guide the Gaurs to their maiden title,as they were eliminated by the eventual champions, Chennaiyin FC in the semi-finals.

2. Odafa Onyeka Okolie and Felix Chimaokwu

Churchill Brothers, alongside their city-rivals Dempo, were a force to be reckoned with in the early years of the I-League. After finishing second in the first edition of the league, the outfit was motivated to go one step further in the 2008-09 season. They had an incredible striking force at their disposal in Odafa Onyeka Okolie and Felix Chimaokwu. The Nigerian duo took the league by storm, with the former scoring 24 goals and the latter notching up further 10 goals. This goalscoring feat allowed Churchill Brothers to score the most goals in the season(53) and win their maiden I-League title in that year, finishing with 46 points, three more than second-placed Mohun Bagan. [KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News | Article Continues Below"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

1. Sunil Chhetri and Miku

Bengaluru FC’s induction into the ISL in the 2017-18 campaign attracted a lot of eyeballs and a lot of promise was expected from the side. The Albert Roca managed outfit dominated the league stages, finishing in the first position. Their success was achieved on the back of their striking force in Sunil Chhetri and Miku. The duo were players of different styles but complemented each other brilliantly. BFC scored 40 goals in their first campaign and the duo were responsible for 29 of them alone. While Miku scored 15 goals, Chhetri kept up the pace and managed 14 goals as well. However, this was not enough to clinch the trophy as the Blues were defeated by John Gregory’s Chennaiyin for the title in the final.