2020–21 Indian Super League season
# 2020–21 Indian Super League season

The 2020–21 Indian Super League season was the seventh season of the Indian Super League (ISL) since its formation and the 25th season of the top division of the Indian football league system. The season started on 20 November 2020 and ended on 13 March 2021. It was hosted behind closed doors across three venues in Goa due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

Mumbai City won the championship, having defeated ATK Mohun Bagan in the final, and also won the League Winners Shield for league premiers. Thus, Mumbai City became the first club to win the ISL championship title and the League Winners Shield in a single season.

## Changes from last season

* Each club has the option of signing a minimum of five and a maximum of seven foreign players. Still, unlike the previous season, there should be at least one overseas player who hails from an AFC–affiliated country.
* The maximum squad size is increased as the clubs are allowed to register up to 35 players in their squad.
* The number of substitutions allowed has been increased from 3 players to 5 players.
* Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all matches during the 2020–21 season will be played behind closed doors across three venues in Goa. The venues will be the Fatorda Stadium in Margao, the GMC Athletic Stadium in Bambolim, and the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco da Gama. The host venues for each team were revealed on 18 August 2020.
* On 27 September 2020, East Bengal joined the league as an expansion team and thus became the 11th team.
* Due to all the matches of the League being played in neutral venues, there will be no away goal rule to be applied in the playoffs this season.

## Teams

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Location | Host venue | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| ATK Mohun Bagan | Kolkata, West Bengal | Fatorda Stadium | 18,600 |
| Bengaluru | Bangalore, Karnataka | Fatorda Stadium | 18,600 |
| Goa | Margao, Goa | Fatorda Stadium | 18,600 |
| Chennaiyin | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | GMC Athletic Stadium | 3,000 |
| Kerala Blasters | Kochi, Kerala | GMC Athletic Stadium | 3,000 |
| Mumbai City | Mumbai, Maharashtra | GMC Athletic Stadium | 3,000 |
| Odisha | Bhubaneswar, Odisha | GMC Athletic Stadium | 3,000 |
| East Bengal | Kolkata, West Bengal | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 5,000 |
| Hyderabad | Hyderabad, Telangana | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 5,000 |
| Jamshedpur | Jamshedpur, Jharkhand | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 5,000 |
| NorthEast United | Guwahati, Assam | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 5,000 |

### Personnel and sponsorship

| Team | Head coach | Captain(s) | Kit manufacturer | Main sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| ATK Mohun Bagan | Antonio López Habas | Pritam Kotal Roy Krishna Sandesh Jhingan Arindam Bhattacharya Edu Garcia | Nivia | SBOTOP |
| Bengaluru | Naushad Moosa (interim head coach) | Sunil Chhetri | Puma | JSW |
| Chennaiyin | Csaba László | Rafael Crivellaro | Performax | Apollo Tyres |
| East Bengal | Robbie Fowler | Danny Fox | TYKA | Shree Cement |
| Goa | Juan Ferrando | Edu Bedia | SIX5SIX | Indinews |
| Hyderabad | Manuel Roca | Aridane Santana | T10 Sports | Andslite |
| Jamshedpur | Owen Coyle | Peter Hartley | Nivia | Tata Steel |
| Kerala Blasters | Ishfaq Ahmed (interim head coach) | Costa Nhamoinesu Jessel Carneiro | Reyaur Sports | BYJU'S |
| Mumbai City | Sergio Lobera | Amrinder Singh | Puma | DafaNews |
| NorthEast United | Khalid Jamil (Interim head coach) | Benjamin Lambot Lalengmawia Federico Gallego Subhasish Roy Chowdhury | Performax | JA Entertainment |
| Odisha | Gerry Peyton (Interim head coach) | Steven Taylor | T10 Sports | Odisha Tourism |

### Head coaching changes

| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Kerala Blasters | Eelco Schattorie | Sacked | 22 April 2020 | Pre-season | Kibu Vicuña | 23 April 2020 |
| Goa | Clifford Miranda | End of interim period | 30 April 2020 | Pre-season | Juan Ferrando | 30 April 2020 |
| Hyderabad | Xavier Gurri López | End of interim period | 1 June 2020 | Pre-season | Albert Roca | 1 June 2020 |
| Odisha | Josep Gombau | Mutual consent | 18 March 2020 | Pre-season | Stuart Baxter | 19 June 2020 |
| Jamshedpur | Antonio Iriondo | End of contract | 31 May 2020 | Pre-season | Owen Coyle | 7 August 2020 |
| NorthEast United | Khalid Jamil | End of the interim period | 25 August 2020 | Pre-season | Gerard Nus | 25 August 2020 |
| Chennaiyin | Owen Coyle | End of contract | 14 March 2020 | Pre-season | Csaba László | 30 August 2020 |
| Hyderabad | Albert Roca | Mutual consent | 29 August 2020 | Pre-season | Manuel Roca | 31 August 2020 |
| Mumbai City | Jorge Costa | End of contract | 5 March 2020 | Pre-season | Sergio Lobera | 12 October 2020 |
| Bengaluru | Carles Cuadrat | Mutual consent | 6 January 2021 | 5th | Naushad Moosa | 6 January 2021 |
| NorthEast United | Gerard Nus | Sacked | 12 January 2021 | 7th | Khalid Jamil | 12 January 2021 |
| Odisha | Stuart Baxter | Sacked | 2 February 2021 | 11th | Gerry Peyton | 3 February 2021 |
| Kerala Blasters | Kibu Vicuna | Mutual consent | 17 February 2021 | 9th | Ishfaq Ahmed | 17 February 2021 |

## Foreign players

Bold letters suggest the player was signed in the winter transfer window.

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | AFC Player | Former Player |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| ATK Mohun Bagan | Marcelinho | Roy Krishna | Carl McHugh | Edu García | Javi Hernández | Tiri | David Williams | Brad Inman |
| Bengaluru | Cleiton Silva | Kristian Opseth | Dimas Delgado | Fran González | Juanan | Xisco Hernández | Erik Paartalu | Deshorn Brown |
| Chennaiyin | Enes Sipović | Eli Sabiá | Memo | Esmaël Gonçalves | Jakub Sylvestr | Manuel Lanzarote | Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev | Rafael Crivellaro |
| East Bengal | Jacques Maghoma | Matti Steinmann | Bright Enobakhare | Anthony Pilkington | Danny Fox | Aaron Holloway | Scott Neville | |
| Goa | Alberto Noguera | Edu Bedia | Igor Angulo | Iván González | Jorge Ortiz | | James Donachie | |
| Hyderabad | João Victor | Aridane Santana | Fran Sandaza | Lluís Sastre | Odei Onaindia | Roland Alberg | Joel Chianese | |
| Jamshedpur | Alex Monteiro | Peter Hartley | Nerijus Valskis | Stephen Eze | Aitor Monroy | David Grande | Nick Fitzgerald | |
| Kerala Blasters | Facundo Pereyra | Bakary Koné | Gary Hooper | Juande | Vicente Gómez | Costa Nhamoinesu | Jordan Murray | Sergio Cidoncha |
| Mumbai City | Adam Le Fondre | Hugo Boumous | Ahmed Jahouh | Bartholomew Ogbeche | Mourtada Fall | Hernán Santana | Cy Goddard | |
| NorthEast United | Benjamin Lambot | Idrissa Sylla | Deshorn Brown | Khassa Camara | Luís Machado | Federico Gallego | Dylan Fox | Kwesi Appiah |
| Odisha | Brad Inman | Diego Maurício | Steven Taylor | Cole Alexander | Manuel Onwu | Diawandou Diagne | Jacob Tratt | Marcelinho |

## Regular season

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Mumbai City (C) | 20 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 18 | +17 | 40 | Premiers, Qualification to ISL playoffs and 2022 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | ATK Mohun Bagan | 20 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 28 | 15 | +13 | 40 | Qualification to ISL playoffs and 2022 AFC Cup play-off round |
| 3 | NorthEast United | 20 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 31 | 25 | +6 | 33 | Qualification to ISL playoffs |
| 4 | Goa | 20 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 31 | 23 | +8 | 31 | Qualification to ISL playoffs |
| 5 | Hyderabad | 20 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 27 | 19 | +8 | 29 | |
| 6 | Jamshedpur | 20 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 22 | −1 | 27 | |
| 7 | Bengaluru | 20 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 26 | 28 | −2 | 22 | |
| 8 | Chennaiyin | 20 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 23 | −6 | 20 | |
| 9 | East Bengal | 20 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 22 | 33 | −11 | 17 | |
| 10 | Kerala Blasters | 20 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 23 | 36 | −13 | 17 | |
| 11 | Odisha | 20 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 25 | 44 | −19 | 12 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | AMB | BEN | CHE | EAB | GOA | HYD | JAM | KER | MCI | NEU | OFC |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| ATK Mohun Bagan | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Bengaluru | 0–2 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Chennaiyin | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–0 |
| East Bengal | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 |
| Goa | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Hyderabad | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Jamshedpur | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | — | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Kerala Blasters | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–4 |
| Mumbai City | 2–0 | 2–4 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| NorthEast United | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 3–1 |
| Odisha | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 6–5 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–6 | 2–2 | — |

## Playoffs

### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Mumbai City (p) | 2 | 0 | 2 (6) | | | |
| 4 | Goa | 2 | 0 | 2 (5) | | | |
| 4 | Goa | 2 | 0 | 2 (5) | 1 | Mumbai City | 2 |
| | | | | | 2 | ATK Mohun Bagan | 1 |
| 2 | ATK Mohun Bagan | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ATK Mohun Bagan | 1 |
| 3 | NorthEast United | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | |

### Semi-finals

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Mumbai City | 2–2 (6–5 p) | Goa | 2–2 | 0–0 (a.e.t.) |
| ATK Mohun Bagan | 3–2 | NorthEast United | 1–1 | 2–1 |

## Season statistics

### Scoring

**Hat-tricks**


    Result column shows goal tally of player's team first.

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Bipin Singh | Mumbai City | Odisha | 6–1 (A) | 24 February 2021 | |

**Hat-tricks**

**Notes**

(H) – Home team (A) – Away team

### Assists

| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Alberto Noguera | Goa | 8 |
| 1 | Roy Krishna | ATK Mohun Bagan | 8 |
| 3 | Hugo Boumous | Mumbai City | 7 |
| 4 | Federico Gallego | NorthEast United | 6 |
| 4 | Aitor Monroy | Jamshedpur | 6 |
| 6 | Jerry Mawihmingthanga | Odisha | 5 |
| 6 | Ahmed Jahouh | Mumbai City | 5 |
| 8 | Gary Hooper | Kerala Blasters | 4 |
| 8 | Alexander Jesuraj | Goa | 4 |
| 8 | Cleiton Silva | Bengaluru | 4 |
| 8 | Bipin Singh | Mumbai City | 4 |
| Source: ||||

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Amrinder Singh | Mumbai City | 10 |
| 1 | Arindam Bhattacharya | ATK Mohun Bagan | 10 |
| 3 | Rehenesh TP | Jamshedpur | 8 |
| 4 | Laxmikant Kattimani | Hyderabad | 6 |
| 4 | Vishal Kaith | Chennaiyin | 6 |
| 6 | Gurpreet Singh | Bengaluru | 4 |
| 7 | Subhasish Roy | NorthEast United | 3 |
| 7 | Albino Gomes | Kerala Blasters | 3 |
| 9 | Gurmeet Singh | NorthEast United | 2 |
| 9 | Dheeraj Singh | Goa | 2 |
| 9 | Subrata Pal | East Bengal | 2 |
| 9 | Debjit Majumder | East Bengal | 2 |
| Source: ||||

### Discipline

**Player**

* Most yellow cards: 8
   * Pronay Halder (ATK Mohun Bagan)
   * Erik Paartalu (Bengaluru)
* Most red cards: 2
   * Ahmed Jahouh (Mumbai City)

**Club**

* Most yellow cards: 61
   * Mumbai City
* Most red cards: 4
   * East Bengal
   * Jamshedpur
   * Goa

## Awards

### Hero of the Match

| Match | Hero of the Match | Hero of the Match | Match | Hero of the Match | Hero of the Match | Match | Hero of the Match | Hero of the Match |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Match | Player | Club | Match | Player | Club | Match | Player | Club |
| Match 1 | Roy Krishna | ATK Mohun Bagan | Match 40 | Jeakson Singh | Kerala Blasters | Match 78 | Roy Krishna | ATK Mohun Bagan |
| Match 2 | Khassa Camara | NorthEast United | Match 41 | Rehenesh TP | Jamshedpur | Match 79 | Seiminlen Doungel | Jamshedpur |
| Match 3 | Igor Angulo | Goa | Match 42 | Arindam Bhattacharya | ATK Mohun Bagan | Match 80 | Sunil Chhetri | Bengaluru |
| Match 4 | Aridane Santana | Hyderabad | Match 43 | Igor Angulo | Goa | Match 81 | Amrinder Singh | Mumbai City |
| Match 5 | Anirudh Thapa | Chennaiyin | Match 44 | Amrinder Singh | Mumbai City | Match 82 | Federico Gallego | NorthEast United |
| Match 6 | Adam Le Fondre | Mumbai City | Match 45 | Anthony Pilkington | East Bengal | Match 83 | Gurpreet Singh | Bengaluru |
| Match 7 | Dylan Fox | NorthEast United | Match 46 | Roy Krishna | ATK Mohun Bagan | Match 84 | Manvir Singh | ATK Mohun Bagan |
| Match 8 | Carl McHugh | ATK Mohun Bagan | Match 47 | Halicharan Narzary | Hyderabad | Match 85 | Matti Steinmann | East Bengal |
| Match 9 | Chinglensana Singh | Hyderabad | Match 48 | Bipin Singh | Mumbai City | Match 86 | Lalengmawia | NorthEast United |
| Match 10 | Diego Maurício | Odisha | Match 49 | Bright Enobakhare | East Bengal | Match 87 | Rowllin Borges | Mumbai City |
| Match 11 | Albino Gomes | Kerala Blasters | Match 50 | Diego Maurício | Odisha | Match 88 | Marcelinho Leite Pereira | ATK Mohun Bagan |
| Match 12 | Lalengmawia | NorthEast United | Match 51 | Joel Chianese | Hyderabad | Match 89 | Stephen Eze | Jamshedpur |
| Match 13 | Hugo Boumous | Mumbai City | Match 52 | Debjit Majumder | East Bengal | Match 90 | Diego Mauricio | Odisha |
| Match 14 | Mohammad Yasir | Hyderabad | Match 53 | Lallianzuala Chhangte | Chennaiyin | Match 91 | Akash Mishra | Hyderabad |
| Match 15 | Roy Krishna | ATK Mohun Bagan | Match 54 | Jordan Murray | Kerala Blasters | Match 92 | Ishan Pandita | Goa |
| Match 16 | Suresh Singh Wangjam | Bengaluru | Match 55 | Bartholomew Ogbeche | Mumbai City | Match 93 | Federico Gallego | NorthEast United |
| Match 17 | Benjamin Lambot | NorthEast United | Match 56 | Lalengmawia | NorthEast United | Match 94 | Roy Krishna | ATK Mohun Bagan |
| Match 18 | Rowllin Borges | Mumbai City | Match 57 | Anirudh Thapa | Chennaiyin | Match 95 | Sunil Chhetri | Bengaluru |
| Match 19 | Lenny Rodrigues | Goa | Match 58 | Naveen Kumar | Goa | Match 96 | Aridane Santana | Hyderabad |
| Match 20 | Nerijus Valskis | Jamshedpur | Match 59 | Sahal | Kerala Blasters | Match 97 | Iván González | Goa |
| Match 21 | Luís Machado | NorthEast United | Match 60 | Hitesh Sharma | Hyderabad | Match 98 | Lallianzuala Chhangte | Chennaiyin |
| Match 22 | Mourtada Fall | Mumbai City | Match 61 | Federico Gallego | NorthEast United | Match 99 | Roy Krishna | ATK Mohun Bagan |
| Match 23 | Mohammed Irshad | East Bengal | Match 62 | Saviour Gama | Goa | Match 100 | Farukh Choudhary | Jamshedpur |
| Match 24 | Liston Colaco | Hyderabad | Match 63 | Debjit Majumder | East Bengal | Match 101 | Glan Martins | Goa |
| Match 25 | Jorge Ortiz | Goa | Match 64 | Cole Alexander | Odisha | Match 102 | Lallianzuala Chhangte | Chennaiyin |
| Match 26 | Khassa Camara | NorthEast United | Match 65 | Rahul K P | Kerala Blasters | Match 103 | Aridane Santana | Hyderabad |
| Match 27 | Dimas Delgado | Bengaluru | Match 66 | David Williams | ATK Mohun Bagan | Match 104 | V.P. Suhair | NorthEast United |
| Match 28 | Peter Hartley | Jamshedpur | Match 67 | Mourtada Fall | Mumbai City | Match 105 | Bipin Singh | Mumbai City |
| Match 29 | Aridane Santana | Hyderabad | Match 68 | Sandeep Singh | Kerala Blasters | Match 106 | Aitor Monroy | Jamshedpur |
| Match 30 | Carl McHugh | ATK Mohun Bagan | Match 69 | Aridane Santana | Hyderabad | Match 107 | Lalengmawia | NorthEast United |
| Match 31 | Cleiton Silva | Bengaluru | Match 70 | Cleiton Silva | Bengaluru | Match 108 | Paul Ramfangzauva | Odisha |
| Match 32 | Peter Hartley | Jamshedpur | Match 71 | Amey Ranawade | Mumbai City | Match 109 | Adil Khan | Goa |
| Match 33 | Rafael Crivellaro | Chennaiyin | Match 72 | Federico Gallego | NorthEast United | Match 110 | Mourtada Fall | Mumbai City |
| Match 34 | Ahmed Jahouh | Mumbai City | Match 73 | Sahal | Kerala Blasters | Match 111 (SF) | Jorge Ortiz | Goa |
| Match 35 | Anthony Pilkington | East Bengal | Match 74 | Aridane Santana | Hyderabad | Match 112 (SF) | Gurjinder Kumar | NorthEast United |
| Match 36 | David Williams | ATK Mohun Bagan | Match 75 | Bright Enobakhare | East Bengal | Match 113 (SF) | Iván González | Goa |
| Match 37 | Cole Alexander | Odisha | Match 76 | Deshorn Brown | NorthEast United | Match 114 (SF) | Manvir Singh | ATK Mohun Bagan |
| Match 38 | Jorge Ortiz | Goa | Match 77 | Asish Rai | Hyderabad | Match 115 (F) | Bipin Singh | Mumbai City |
| Match 39 | Matti Steinmann | East Bengal | | Source: | Source: | Source: | Source: | Source: |

## Season awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| - | - | - |
| Hero of the League | Roy Krishna | ATK Mohun Bagan |
| Golden Boot | Igor Angulo | Goa |
| Golden Glove | Arindam Bhattacharya | ATK Mohun Bagan |
| Winning Pass of the League | Alberto Noguera | Goa |
| Emerging Player of the League | Lalengmawia | NorthEast United |
