The Indian Super League season 10 gets us underway with a 2-1 win in favour of Kerala Blasters FC against Bengaluru FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Kerala scored 2 second-half goals to grab all three points from matchday one of the ISL 2023-24 season. It was a frustrating goalless first half for the home fans as they couldn't create enough opportunities for themselves. But they surely came back in the second half and scored two decisive goals which were mostly individual errors. Curtis Main did score a consolation goal at the end for the visitors but nothing changed except the home fans left disappointed on not getting the clean sheet.

Read Also: "You don't want me in trouble," Sunil Chhetri's post-match comment on lack of preparation

ISL 2023-24: Kerala Blasters FC vs Bengaluru FC - Match Report

First Half:

The home side started with great intensity as they pushed Bengaluru right from the first minute. They couldn't create any clear opportunities but surely put Bengaluru FC under so much pressure. But slowly, the lack of energy was visible among the players from both teams. It could be the match sharpness or anything but the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was buzzing on the return of the ISL. Kerala kept position and mostly did sideways passing until Bengaluru tried to hit them on counters. Without their main man Sunil Chhetri, Bengaluru looked toothless. They weren't able to create anything and the match soon became very frustrating for the players. After 30 minutes, it was just physical battles and silly fouls were going on all around the pitch. The first half ended goalless with so much to come in the second half.

Second Half:

A complete turnaround from the home side in the second half. Kerala players looked sharper and fresher than before. Bengaluru also tried to match the intensity and it soon became end-to-end. In the 52nd minute, Peprah took a venomous shot on the turn from the edge of the box. Gurpreet made a brilliant save and tips it over the bar. Then Luna provided a cross inside the box and no one from Bengaluru FC took the initiative to clear the ball. Veendorp, whose body shape was all wrong, tried to get the ball away but the ball struck him and ended up inside the net for an own goal. A horrible way to concede but the home fans' cheer became louder and louder. It was just heaven for Kerala players but surely a hostile atmosphere for the visitors.

Yellow Army, did you enjoy that one? 😉#KBFCBFC #KBFC #KeralaBlasters pic.twitter.com/bZWoeRk8Su

— Kerala Blasters FC (@KeralaBlasters) September 21, 2023

After breaking the deadlock, Kerala just cracked open Bengaluru. Parag Shrivas almost made an impact right after coming on for BFC. He got his head to the ball from a corner and the ball almost made his way inside the net. Sachin pushed the ball away in the nick of time to save his team from conceding. Then came Kerala's second goal of the match.

The Indian International, Gurpreet gifted Luna the goal. Damjanovic passed the ball back to Gurpreet. The BFC keeper had a heavy touch and before he knew it, the ball was away from his control. Luna was there to capitalise on the mistake and knock the ball inside the empty net. Some banters were going on between the Kerla Blasters players and the referees. This was in relation to the controversy that happened when both teams met last time when Chhetri's controversial goal led to Ivan Vukomanovic and the KBFC walking off.

Curtis Main scored the consolation goal for Bengaluru FC. It could be the start of their comeback but nothing sort of happened after the goal. The home fans were not happy as they wanted a clean sheet from the fixture but it will be only the three points they will get.

Serving up a spicy roast in Kaloor 😎 🌶️#KBFCBFC #KBFC #KeralaBlasters pic.twitter.com/RaF658E4Xq

— Kerala Blasters FC (@KeralaBlasters) September 21, 2023

ISL 2023-24: Kerala Blasters FC vs Bengaluru FC - Starting XI

• Kerala Blasters: Sachin, Prabir, Pritam, Milos, Aiban, Daisuke, Jeakson, Danish, Aimen, Luna (c), Peprah.  
• Bengaluru FC: Gurpreet (c), Roshan, Jovanovic, Damjanovic, Jessel, Bhutia, Rohit, Suresh, Keziah, Williams, Sivasakthi.

Scoring a hat-trick is considered one of the most significant achievements of a striker in football. In football leagues worldwide, we get to see the top-level strikers achieving multiple hat-tricks in their careers. 

In the Indian Super League, Nigerian striker Bartholomew Ogbeche has the record for scoring the most number of hattricks in the league. With Indian legend, Sunil Chhetri giving him a tough competition in the table, we present you players with the ISL stats of players with the most hat-tricks in Indian Super League history.

2 Hattricks | Stiven Mendoza, Dudu Omagbemi, Coro, Marcelinho, Modou Sougou 

Stiven Mendoza, Dudu Omagbemi, Coro, Marcelinho, and Modou Sougou have scored two hattricks in their ISL careers.

Mendoza, the Colombian left winger played for Chennaiyin FC on two stints; once in the 2013/14 season and again in the 2014/15 season. He scored 15 goals in 22 games and netted twice in three ISL playoff matches. 

He scored his first ISL hat-trick against FC Goa in Chennaiyin’s opening game in 2015. Mendoza scored his second hattrick, against Kerala Blasters in a 4-1 win.

Dudu, the Nigerian striker is one of the known faces in Indian football, having played for East Bengal and Salgaocar FC in the I-League. However, he played for FC Pune City, FC Goa and Chennaiyin FC in ISL. 

He scored his first ISL hat-trick against Mumbai City FC while playing for FC Goa, in 2015. His last hat-trick in the league came against Northeast United FC in a 3-3 draw for Chennaiyin FC in the 2016/17 season. 

Coro, the Spaniard spent three seasons in India with FC Goa from 2017-18 to 2019-20. In 50 ISL league games, he scored a stunning 47 goals while contributing 16 assists. He had scored back-to-back hattricks in his first season, one against Bengaluru FC, followed by one against Kerala Blasters. 

Marcelinho, the Brazilian winger started his ISL career with Delhi Dynamos in 2016, joined Pune City in 2017 and continued playing in India for Hyderabad FC, Odisha FC, ATK Mohun Bagan and NEUFC. 

He scored one hat-trick against FC Goa for Delhi Dynamos and another against NEUFC for FC Pune City in 2017.

Modou Sougou, the Senegalese right winger played for Mumbai City FC in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons. He scored four goals in a match against Kerala Blasters in the 2018-19 season and scored his last ISL hat-trick against ATK in the same season. 

3 hattricks | Iain Hume and Sunil Chhetri 

One of the earliest stars of the Indian Super League, the Canadian striker, who had played for clubs like Leicester City, joined Kerala Blasters in the first season. In 2015/16, he moved to Atletico de Kolkata and won the league in 2016. Later, he rejoined KBFC, before finishing with Pune City. 

His fast ISL hat-trick came for Atletico Day, Kolkata against Mumbai City FC. His other hat-trick for ATK came against FC Pune City in the 2015-16 season.

Hume’s third hattrick was for Kerala Blasters against Delhi Dynamos in the 2017-18 season. 

Like Hume, Indian football legend, Sunil Chhetri has also scored 3 ISL hattricks in his career. The former India captain has scored the number of goals in the league’s history.

Chhetri became the first Indian player to score a hat-trick in ISL when he scored against Northeast United FC in the 2015/16 season for Mumbai City FC. 

In the 2017-18 season, Chhetri scored his second hat-trick against FC Pune City for Bengaluru FC. His latest hat-trick came against Kerala Blasters in 4-2 win for BFC. With this hat-trick, he has also become the oldest player to score a hat-trick in ISL history at 40 years and 126 days old.

Read Also | 10 Biggest Football Stars Who Have Played in ISL

4 | Bartholomew Ogbeche

The former Nigerian striker is one of the most successful footballers in ISL history. In 2018, he started his career in India with Northeast United and later moved to clubs like Kerala Blasters, Mumbai City FC and Hyderabad FC.  

Bartholomew Ogbeche won the ISL Cup twice with Mumbai City FC and Hyderabad FC and the league once with Mumbai City FC. 

His first ISL hat-trick was against Chennaiyin FC for NEUFC in the 2018-19 season. Chennaiyin became his favourite opponent when he scored his second ISL hat-trick against the Kerala Blasters in the 2019-20 season. 

His third and fourth ISL hat-trick came for Hyderabad FC against East Bengal and FC Goa. 

ISL Hat-tricks FAQ

Odisha FC's star striker and the third highest goal scorer of Indian Super League (ISL) history, Roy Krishna has been sidelined for the remainder of the season due to a grade 3 ACL injury he sustained during the game against Hyderabad FC last week.

The Fijian striker had already scored three goals this season in ISL for the Juggernauts and has been one of the most impressive players in the league's history since he joined in 2019. He joined Odisha FC in 2023 after spending fruitful years with Bengaluru FC, ATK and ATK Mohun Bagan before joining the 2023 Super League winners.

Read Also | ISL transfer news: All completed transfers before ISL 2024-25

"We will miss him on the pitch:" Lobera

Roy was one of the key clogs in Sergio Lobera's plan and without him, they would have a gigantic boot to fill in. However, Lobera feels Roy's absence will not hurt the team that much as the team is focused on the challenges ahead. 

"It's sad news for the team. Roy is not just an incredible player but also a fantastic human being. We’ll miss him on the pitch, but I’m sure he’ll continue to support us off it. He’s one of the best professionals I’ve worked with, and I wish him a speedy recovery," Lpbera stated via an official press release by Odisha FC. 

"It’s not easy when you have just two training sessions, primarily focused on recovery and compensation. But we don’t make excuses. This is football, and we need to adapt. It’s another challenge for us to overcome, and I believe we’re ready," he added.

Odisha FC are currently 3rd in the ISL standings with 15 points from 10 matches after returning to winning ways against an in-form Bengaluru FC with a 4-1 win at home. Next, they will face Mumbai City FC on 5th December at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar. 

Read Also | I-League broadcast: Sony Sports Network will telecast the matches on TV from second round

Match Details:

Odisha FC vs Mumbai City FC
5th Dec | Thursday | 7.30 PM | Kalinga Stadium
Live on Sports18, JioCinema, Star Sports-3

Indian Super League outfit Hyderbad FC owners are reportedly planning to move their base to Delhi from next season onwards. According to IFTWC reports, Hyderabad FC owners BC Jindal Group are looking for the formulas and regulations to move away from Hyderabad and from next season the club may participate with a brand-new avatar based in Delhi. 

Hyderabad FC in the ISL 

Hyderabad FC was formed in 2019 to replace FC Pune City as it was financially struggling. The Pune-based franchise was disbanded in 2019 and Hyderabad FC was announced to step into the Indian Football map from the 2019-20 season. 

However, the soft rebranding of the entity did not reflect in their performance as they could not perform well in the first two seasons. Hyderabad finished last in their debut ISL season under Phil Brown who was also the last coach of FC Pune City. The current Indian national team head coach Manolo Marquez was appointed as the head coach of Hyderabad but he also could not deliver the expected result. Hyderabad finished 5th in the 2020-21 season and missed the ISL play-offs by a slight difference of points. 

In the 2021-22 season, Hyderabad FC achieved the coveted ISL trophy under Manolo Marquez beating Kerala Blasters on penalties to be the ISL cup winners. 
The woes of financial struggles and disastrous performance of the Hyderabad side since the start of last season continued and it was uncertain for them to participate in this season's ISL. However, BC Jindal Group took over the club in August 2024 and cleared all the financial issues. 

The relocation

The interest in relocation from the new owners of Hyderabad FC may not be as unexpected as it seems. The owners, BC Jindal Group have shown interest in buying a franchise in Indian Football in the past as well.

In June 2023, AIFF asked for bids to launch two new I-League teams. Inter Kashi and Namdhari SC were finalized from all the corporate bids, but the bid submitted by Concatenate Advest for the Delhi franchise could not compete due to finances.  The Concatenate Advest Pvt. Ltd. is owned by BC Jindal Group and they submitted the bid for the Delhi franchise along with TVS Motors. 

As the company and the conglomerate that owns Hyderabad FC are located in New Delhi, the plan to relocate is not as unpredictable as it seems. 
Delhi Dynamos FC, the former ISL franchise that relocated to Odisha and came out as Odisha FC, was the last club to take part in the ISL from the capital of India. However, Punjab FC currently play their home matches in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. The officials will have to find a solution for these issues as well. The local talents of Hyderabad might not get the expected care anymore, which might be a bad advertisement for Indian Football.

Sony Sports Network is set to acquire the TV broadcasting rights of the I-League 2024-25 following the extensive feud between the I League clubs association and AIFF. 

SSEN acquired the OTT rights before and they will continue to stream the matches on its official app whereas Sony Sports Network Channels will broadcast the matches on TV. 

The I-League is about to kick-off from today but. the dispute between I-League clubs association and AIFF has delayed the TV broadcasting. Matches scheduled for first round will not be telecasted on TV but football fans can watch the I-League games live on TV on and from 29 November 2024. 

The I-League clubs association headed by Delhi FC owner Ranjit Bajaj announced in a letter to AIFF yesterday that the 12 I-League clubs have decided to boycott the league and they will not play unless the broadcasting issues are resolved. Shrachi Sports' venture SSEN also announced yesterday that fans can watch the matches 'only' on SSEN app which added fuel to the fire. 

However, in an overnight development, AIFF has finalized Sony as the TV broadcasting partner for the I-League 2024-25 and the clubs expect that over 100 of the scheduled 132 matches will be telecasted live on TV. 

Participating clubs will reportedly pay 12 Lakh rupees each to the Sony Sports Network to cover the broadcasting costs which does not include the participation fees of 7 Lakhs paid to the AIFF. 

The uncertainty regarding the broadcasting issues have finally been resolved and the I-League 2024-25 will start according to the announced fixtures. Sreenidi Deccan will take on Gokulam Kerala in a blockbuster opening game set to kick off today at 4:30 PM IST. Later today, Inter Kashi will face newly promoted Sporting Club Bengaluru in the second match of the opening day, scheduled to start today at 7:00 PM IST. 

Indian football fans better sit tight as one of the most prestigious accolades in Indian Football, the I-League 2024-25 is around the corner. Sreenidi Deccan will take on Gokulam Kerala tomorrow in Hyderabad in the opening match of this season.

From Complete fixtures to the participating teams, here is everything you need to know about the 18th season of the I-League.

Teams to participate in the I-League 2024-25

10 teams from the 2023-24 I-League will compete this season along with 2 teams that achieved promotion to the I-League from the I-League 2. 

2023-24 I-League 2 Champions Sporting Bengaluru and Runner-ups Dempo SC are the new inclusions this season.

• Aizawl FC

• Churchill Brothers

• Delhi FC

• Dempo SC

• Gokulamn Kerala

• Inter Kashi

• Namdhari FC

• Rajasthan United

• Real Kashmir

• Shillong Lajong

• Sporting Bengaluru

• Sreenidi Deccan

Teams to watch this season

Gokulam Kerala will be eyeing for their third I-League title after falling 10 points short of the champions Mohammedan SC. Gokulam finished third last season and they have to strong squad to compete under new manager Antonio Rueda Fernandez. Players such as Sergio Llamas, Martín Cháves, VP Suhair, and last season's Golden Boot winner Álex Sánchez will be crucial for Gokulam's journey this season.

Sreenidi Deccan, the runner-up of last season and the 2022-23 season as well, will suit up for the league title and they have retained the almost same squad from last season. Portuguese coach Rui Amorim has been appointed as the new coach and the Hyderabad-based club will leave no stone unturned for their title charge. Players like David Castañeda, William Alves, Brandon Vanlalremdika, and Eli Sabiá can make Sreenidi fans dream of their maiden I-League title.

Inter Kashi debuted in the 2023-24 I-League as a new inductee and finished in the 4th position. However, they have appointed Antonio Lopez Habas as the new gaffer who is arguably the best coach in ISL history. Mario Barco, Joni Kauko, and Nikola Stojanović will strengthen Kashi's squad whereas they have renowned Indian players such as Edmund Lalrindika, Arindam Bhattacharya, and Narayan Das. inter Kashi will be a very interesting team to watch this season. 

Churchill Brothers will again represent Goa after finishing seventh last season along with the Goa counterpart Dempo SC, the club that returned to the I-League after nine long years. Shillong Lajong displayed a good show of football in the Durand Cup 2024 and they hope to continue to do so. 

Previous Winners

Complete Fixtures