Sunil Chhetri becomes joint-highest goalscorer in ISL history

The Bengaluru FC skipper joins Ferran Corominas in the record books.

Sunil Chhetri has become the joint-highest goalscorer in the history of the Indian Super League (ISL). Chhetri, who scored the equaliizer against FC Goa, now shares the record with former FC Goa striker Ferran Corominas. He has now scored 48 goals in the ISL in 106 matches. Coromnias achieved the feat in 57 games. It was incidentally the Bengaluru FC captain’s first goal of the 2021/22 ISL season and one that puts him in history books.

Incidentally, this achievement came in what was Chhetri’s first start in an ISL game in over a month. He had been benched for the last five league games after starting the season in a disappointing fashion.

Sunil Chhetri Landmark ISL Goals

Chhetri joins Corominas as the joint top scorer in the history of the competition. The striker’s first goal in the ISL came in 2015, when he represented Mumbai City FC. His debut ISL goal came against the erstwhile Delhi Dynamos on 16 October 2015, a game in which he scored a brace.

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He spent two seasons with the Islanders before fully committing himself to Bengaluru FC once they moved to the ISL in 2017. Chhetri scored 14 goals for BFC in the 2017-18 ISL season, the most-ever managed by an Indian player in a single ISL season.

For his heroics, he won the "Hero of the League" award that season and also picked up the "AIFF Player of the Year" award in 2017. In their second campaign, Chhetri guided BFC to their first-ever ISL title win – in which he scored nine goals and registered three assists in 19 games.

Chhetri has continuously been among the top-scoring Indian players in the ISL over the last few seasons. He scored eight goals last season, but his performance levels saw a shocking downturn in this campaign. It took him his 12 matches to score his first goal of the season, the longest it’s ever taken him to score an ISL goal in a single term.

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Sunil Chhetri Records

This record adds to the list of accomplishments in Chhetri’s career. The Indian national team captain also holds the record for the second-most international goals among active players – having scored 80 goals for the Blue Tigers. Cristiano Ronaldo is the only active footballer to have scored more international goals than Chhetri – who has the same number as Lionel Messi.

Chhetri will gain some confidence from having scored his record-tying 48th ISL goal and aim to regain his form for the business end of the season. BFC are still in the race for a playoffs spot and need to go on a winning run to do so. The Blues are currently at eighth with 14 points from 12 games, three far from Hyderabad FC, who are in action tomorrow, at fourth.

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