ISL 2020-21: Top 10 favourite moments of the season

There were several instances during the recently concluded campaign which will be etched in the memories of the fans forever.

Nearly four months of high-octane footballing action spanning across 115 matches, the 2020-21 edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) concluded on March 13. Under the tutelage of Sergio Lobera, Mumbai City FC lifted the trophy for the first time since their inception, after beating ATK Mohun Bagan by a scoreline of 2-1 in the final game that was played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa.

The 2020-21 season was quite different compared to the previous editions. For starters, the spread of COVID-19 and related circumstances forced AIFF and FSDL to conduct the league across just three venues in Goa, as opposed to the usual home-and-away structure. This was also the first time when all teams had to remain isolated within bio-bubbles adjacent to these venues throughout the duration of the season.

ISL 2020-21 also saw several interesting incidents happen both on and off the pitch, some of which ended up getting appreciated well by fans and pundits alike. Today, Khel Now offers our take on the top 10 favourite moments from the league this season.

10. Lalengmawia's maiden ISL goal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA4YTRAG5-o&t=205s

NorthEast United's Lalengmawia had a fantastic season and he played a crucial role in his team's run to the playoffs. He also won the 'Emerging Player of the Season' award as testimony to his performances on the pitch. While the 20-year-old was consistently good throughout his campaign, he raised the bar on February 26 when NEUFC took on Kerala Blasters in a must-win game.

The Highlanders needed the victory that night to seal a top four berth and the youngster delivered one of his best-ever performances as they won 2-0. The best play in the game came from Lalengmawia himself, as he struck home a long-ranger from over 40 yards out to ensure that his team claimed all the three points at stake.

9. Roy Krishna's late goal against Kerala Blasters

ATK Mohun Bagan finished as the runners-up and while they might be dejected at missing out on the trophy, it also needs to be said that they had a terrific campaign overall. It all began with Roy Krishna's solitary goal against Kerala Blasters on November 20, when both teams played out the opening fixture of the league.

ATKMB started the game slowly and were also troubled by the injury of Michael Soosairaj who had to leave the pitch with an ACL Grade 3 tear. On the other hand, KBFC were growing into the game. At one point in time, it looked like they might break the deadlock at some point, but Roy Krishna had other plans.

The Fijian pounced on a loose ball late in the second half before rushing into the Blasters' box and firing past Albino Gomes. Within a matter of seconds, he managed to turn the tide in favour of his team and that probably set the mood for their entire season.

8. Rafael Crivellaro's 'Olympic Goal' versus FC Goa

https://youtu.be/Hv21Wdoto4k

Let's all admit that we love wonder goals. A dash of 'impossible' with touch of class or good fortune or anything else, wonder goals have always kept football fans in awe. Every year we get to see only a dozen or so of such strikes across the world. That said, how can we miss what happened when Chennaiyin FC took on FC Goa in December?

Marina Machans' star Rafael Crivellaro scored his first goal of the season that night, directly from a corner-kick! His curled attempt floated over every single person inside the FC Goa box and also evaded the goalkeeper as it flew into the net.

7. Sunil Chhetri's 200th cap for Bengaluru FC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFR3q6yhKVA&t=40s

Sunil Chhetri and goalscoring records go hand-in-hand. The 35-year-old is India's all-time leading goalscorer and the second-best among active players in international football. With 47 goals, he is also the top scorer among Indian footballers in the ISL.

In ISL 2020-21, Chhetri found the back of the net eight times even as Bengaluru FC endured a lacklustre campaign that saw them finish at seventh place. Two of those eight goals came against Mumbai City in an epic 4-2 win on February 15. What made them all the more special was that the game was also his 200th for the Blues. While many teams are currently vying for his signature at the moment, we believe that his love story with the JSW-owned outfit is not yet over.

6. Ivan Gonzalez' goal-line clearance against Hyderabad FC

Despite having had a relatively good campaign, FC Goa barely made it into the playoffs. They needed only a draw against Hyderabad in the final league stage game to make it into the top four, but spectators will know how hard they struggled to obtain that result.

One simply cannot ignore defender Ivan Gonzalez' effort when speaking about this. Deep into injury time, the Spaniard made a goal-line clearance from underneath the feet of an onrushing Liston Colaco and that may have very well been the sole reason why the Gaurs made it into the last-four stage.

5. Kerala Blasters' counter-attack goal against Bengaluru FC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzV5lP6c8sU

This season, Bengaluru FC made it a habit to sit back and play slowly along with surprising their opponents during set-pieces. While it worked fine in the beginning, things suddenly took a toss in December when they faced Kerala Blasters.

In case you did not know already, the 'Biriyani Derby' is a matter of pride for both sets of fans and KBFC were keen to prove that their win last season was by no means a fluke. They got the perfect opportunity to prove their worth in the first half itself, as the Blues' took a poor free-kick and the ball landed on Gary Hooper's feet.

Hooper, with Vicente Gomez and Rahul KP on his either side, sprang forward with the ball and ran for almost the entire length of the pitch before laying off for Rahul. The 20-year-old made no mistake as he fired low and beat Gurpreet Singh Sandhu – a perfectly orchestrated counter-attacking goal. Although the Yellow Army lost the game and had a pretty disappointing this season, this one goal would stay etched in the minds of fans for a long time.

4. Anirudh Thapa's quick goal and 'take the L' celebration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkyKcROV-fs

It took Anirudh Thapa just 52 seconds since the start of their ISL 2020-21 campaign to register his first goal of the season, doing so against Jamshedpur FC. The Marina Machans attacked straight from the kick-off whistle and less than a minute later, JFC keeper TP Rehenesh was seen fishing the ball out from his own net after Thapa fired past him.

He also marked the goal with a spectacular 'take the L' celebration, as previously seen on the popular video game franchise Fortnite. After having witnessed international football stars like Antoine Griezmann perform the same routine after scoring, watching the Indian youngster follow suit turned out to be quite refreshing and delightful.

3. Pritam Kotal's sensational block versus Bright Enobakhare

Bright Enobakhare was one of the standout performers for SC East Bengal this season. Having arrived only in January, he had very little time to showcase his talent to Indian fans, nevertheless he did it in style. Who can forget that wonder goal against FC Goa?

Regardless, when the Red & Gold Brigade met ATKMB in the second Kolkata Derby earlier this year, it was Pritam Kotal's time to shine as he contained the former Wolverhampton Wanderers' forward effectively. On one instance, he stopped Enobakhare on his tracks during a counter attack with a 'Rabona' tackle, nothing less! It was something new, coming from Kotal and pulling it off in a Derby clash against their opponents' best player surely required a lot of guts.

2. Khalid Jamil's appointment as NorthEast United head coach

Before this season, NEUFC had reached the playoffs just once – in 2018-19 under Eelco Schattorie. Being the perennial underachievers that they were, not much was expected from them this time either.

As a result, it was quite surprising to see the team excel under Gerard Nus, but that fire lingered on for only a brief period of time before it sizzled out. Soon enough, the Spaniard was replaced by Khalid Jamil, who then proceeded to stage a coup as he went on an unbeaten streak that resulted in the Highlanders reaching the semi-finals.

Jamil's appointment as NEUFC's head coach is important not just for the team or the league, but also for Indian football as a whole. Soon, we hope to see other Indian head coaches getting the nod over foreigners – and we're hoping that the former Aizawl FC and Mohun Bagan tactician has done enough to start that wave of change right now itself.

1. Ahmed Jahouh wearing Amey Ranawade's shirt during victory celebration

After winning the ISL League Winners' Shield for topping the table in the league stage, Mumbai City reached their first-ever ISL final by knocking out FC Goa. And during the all-important game against ATK Mohun Bagan, they suffered a big setback as Amey Ranawade had to be stretchered off the pitch and shifted to a hospital following a violent collision with Subhasish Bose.

The 23-year-old hence missed out on the rest of the game and for a while, it even looked like his injury was serious. Thankfully, he recovered soon after. In the meantime, Mumbai City won the title thanks to a goal from Bipin Singh and celebrations were underway at the Fatorda Stadium.

This was when MCFC's main man Ahmed Jahouh dropped a class act as he wore his friend and teammate Ranawade's shirt before joining the celebrations. He also posed with the trophy wearing the right-back's shirt, making sure that nobody forgot him while he was away and facing a much more important battle.