The first half of the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) has truly been a memorable one as fans witnessed to some quality football over the past three months. After 59 matches, Bengaluru FC lead the table with 27 points, three more than second-placed Mumbai City FC. However, the fight at the top has just been one of the many stories which defines the season so far. Here, we crunch the numbers to gain some insight into some of the campaign’s more unseen facets.

Goals galore

Hero ISL 2018-19 has already seen a total of 162 goals scored - the third highest at this stage over the course of the past five years. Goa have unsurprisingly contributed the most with 27, followed by Jamshedpur with 21. Despite the plethora of attacking talents in their arsenal, ATK have scored a meagre 10 goals, the least among all the teams.

Indian attackers shine

The Indian players have also come to the fore this campaign, contributing 53 out of the 162 goals – the highest tally till date at this stage. The league’s most recognisable figure, Sunil Chhetri leads the Indian contingent with five goals, while Thoi Singh and Lallianzuala Chhangte have four each. Harmanjot Khabra and Seiminlen Doungel have been the chief providers with three assists each out of the 46 registered by the Indians.

A season of change

Looking at the performances of the clubs, Goa have done exceedingly well to maintain their high goal-scoring standards. The surprise packages of the season have been NorthEast United FC and Jamshedpur FC. The Highlanders had only scored eight goals last season at this phase of the league. However, under Eelco Schattorie, they have literally doubled their effectiveness going forward, scoring 16 goals. Cesar Ferrando has also done a brilliant job with Jamshedpur. With 21 goals in 12 matches, they have now turned themselves into a potent attacking side. Last season, they only had 11 goals at this stage.

The league’s best

Among the league’s standout individual contributors, Ferran Corominas once again takes centre-stage. The Spaniard has been in scintillating form for Goa, leading the goals and assists charts with 10 and 5 respectively. Two strikers who have taken the league by storm this season have been Bartholomew Ogbeche and Modou Sougou. Both have done fairly well to acclimatise to the league, registering nine goals each for NorthEast and Mumbai respectively.

Sougou’s teammate Paulo Machado has been the league’s most creative player, creating 23 chances. Raphael Augusto and Manuel Lanzarote have continued to prove why they are the league’s most sought-after players. In spite of ATK and Chennaiyin’s toothlessness up front, the two have done their bit to create noteworthy chances for their teammates. Machado and Augusto have also been equally effective at the back, putting in an impressive 59 and 57 tackles respectively.

A big factor behind ATK’s solid defensive showings in their last few matches have been the form of Brazilian Gerson Vieira. With 34 blocks, he stands as one of the Hero ISL’s most effective defenders. Vieira’s former teammate Lucian Goian has also been equally impressive for Mumbai with 112 clearances. Among the goalkeepers, Mumbai’s Amrinder Singh leads the charts with 34 saves and 5 clean sheets.

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