Oh Maria
For the first time in the history of the I-League or the National Football League, a game was supervised by a woman referee. Maria Rebello was the referee in the I-League match between Pune FC and Shillong Lajong FC on April 8 – coincidentally also Women’s Day.
Two top scorers
In another first, the top scorers spot in the I-League was shared by two players – Darryl Duffy of Salgaocar FC and Sunil Chhetri of Bengaluru FC – with 14 goals each. National captain Chhetri also became the third Indian to score 14 goals after Baichung Bhutia (JCT – 1996/97) and Raman Vijayan (FC Kochin – 1997/98).
Man-of-the-Match
Sunil Chhetri of Bengaluru and Calum Angus of Pune FC shared the spot of winning the highest Man-of-the-Match awards this season – five times each.
The man with the golden gloves
National team goalkeeper Karanjit Singh of Salgaocar bagged the award after picking up nine clean sheets this season.
2.57 goals per match
A total of 402 goals were scored in the I-League’s 156 matches. Bengaluru scored a total of 42, while East Bengal conceded the least – 23.
4-goal victories
The highest margin of victory of four goals was recorded by the following teams:
Dec 14 – Sporting Club de Goa beat Lajong 5-1 in Mapusa
Oct 9 – East Bengal beat Lajong 4-0 in Shillong
Dec 6 – Mohun Bagan beat United SC 4-0 in Kolkata
Mar 8 – Dempo beat Sporting Clube 4-0 in Margao
Mar 9 – Rangdajied beat United SC 4-0 in Shillong
Five to four
A total of nine goals were scored in the match between Mohammedan Sporting and Shillong Lajong FC at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, on April 16. Lajong won the game 5-4.
100-goal club
East Bengal’s Edeh Chidi became the fifth player to score 100 goals or more in the NFL and I-League. He achieved this feat following his goal for the Red and Golds against Mohammedan Sporting at the Salt Lake Stadium on April 5. Chidi joined Yusif Yakubu, Odafa Okolie, Jose Ramirez Barreto, and Ranti Martins in the 100-goal club. Ranti leads the pack with 185 goals.
Source: i-league.org