Chennaiyin FC won 2018 Indian Super League

Chennaiyin FC lifted their game to a level befitting the occasion and sent fancied Bengaluru FC crushing to a painful 2-3 defeat, clinching the Indian Super League title. Chennaiyin FC Mailson Alves turned out to be the star of the title with a brace. And there was also some Brazilian touch to the game.

Mailson first scored in the 17th minute, which cancelled Sunil Chhetri's ninth minute opener for the hosts, and then propelled his side to a remarkable lead with another leaping header in the 45th minute. Raphael Augusto, also a Brazilian, added to the home team's agony with his 67th minute strike, leaving the raucous home fans stunned at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, which was packed to the rafters.

Miku scored for Bengaluru in injury time but that proved to be too little, too late. Interestingly, four out of the five goals came through headers. This was Chennaiyin FC's second title triumph in the ISL, tying them with ATK as the most successful team in the tournament. In their quest to find the equalizer, Bengaluru FC often left gap in the back line, and Chennaiyin took full advantage of that to close out the game.

Entering the final after an unbeaten run of 10 games, Bengaluru FC started it in the earnest and affected the first breakthrough. Chhetri's opening goal gave Bengaluru FC the advantage they needed early on in the summit showdown. Chhetri headed in after the impressive Udanta Singh, with a great burst of pace down the wings, made the assist. Bengaluru, who played in 3-4-3 formation, were dominant in the first 10 minutes.

Atletico de Kolkata won Indian Super League 2016

Atletico de Kolkata claimed their second Indian Super League title in three years after bettering Kerala Blasters 4-3 (1-1) on penalty shootout in a lack-lustre final. The match was tied in 1-1 at the break and after 90 minutes of regulation time. Mohammed Rafi put the hosts ahead in the 37^th minute and Henrique Sereno Fonseca equalized seven minutes later at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium.

Jewel Raja turned out to be the jewel in ATK's crown, calmly dispatching the last penalty, after Sameehg Doutie, Borja Fernandez and Javi Lara all converted their spot kicks. Only Iain Hume's shot was blocked by Kerala custodian Graham Stack. The home team took first strike in the shootout. Antonio German, Kervens Belfort and Mohammed Rafique scored while Elhadji Ndoye blasted over from 18 yards and Cedric Hengbart's shot was acrobatically saved by ATK goalkeeper Debjit Majumder.

ATK also defeated Kerala in the final of the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2014. The match received an early dose of pace with chances created at both ends, but poor technique coupled with signs of nervousness, prevented the two team's premier forwards from capitalizing on the opportunity. Kerala forward Kervens Belfort outran India international Pritam Kotal and found the in-form CK Vineeth free on the left, who undid the good work with poor technique. The ball was quickly hurled towards ATK's star striker Iain Hume, who peeled away from his marker but was equally wayward in controlling the ball.

Eight teams, 60 matches, more than two months of football has finally come down to two teams playing one last match this year to go for the title itself. Atletico de Kolkata and Kerala Blasters have both gone wayward on multiple occasions this season. But they have pushed forward with sheer determination and now have the title within touching distance.

Chennaiyin lift Indian Super League Title

Forced to shift base to another venue due to flood in their home city, Chennaiyin FC were crowned the Hero Indian Super League Champion after they beat FC Goa 3-2 in a drama filled summit clash, in which three goals were scored in the last four minutes.

In a befitting grand finale of the ISL second season which saw 186 goals scored in 60 matches as compared to 121 last year, the Chennaiyin vs Goa clash at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium saw as many as five goals, all of them coming in the second half of the edge of the seat match. Bruno Pelissari put Chennaiyin ahead in the 54^th minute but Goa equalized within four minutes with Haokip finding the target.

Gonzalez then put Goa ahead for the first time in the 87^th minute in what looked like to be the winning goal. But under dramatic circumstances Goa goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani conceded an own goal in the 90^th minute to level the score before Chennaiyin striker Mendoza found the target in the first minute of the injury time to stun the home supporters of Goa. For Chennaiyin, coached by Italian World Cup Winner Marco Materazzi, the triumph was all the more remarkable as they had to shift to Pune for their semi-final first leg after their home venue was devastated by flood.

They were also struggling in the early part of the league and needed four wins on the trot in their last four matches to qualify for the semi-finals. But it was heartbreak for Goa FC who looked the most attacking side in the season under Brazilian legend Zico, who is not expected to return for the next season. The winner got richer by Rs 8 crore while FC Goa got Rs 4 crore. The two semi-final losers got Rs 1.5 crore each.

Indian Super League

The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional football league in India. The league is one of the top tier football leagues in India, the other being the I-League. The league features eight franchise teams from all around India. The ISL runs from October to December with a final determining the champion.

It was founded in 2013 in an effort to make football a top sport in India and to make Indian Football a major player worldwide. The league operates along the lines of the Twenty20 cricket Indian Premier League and Major League Soccer of the United States. ISL does not use the promotion and relegation system but instead a franchise system in which eight teams was created to participate in the league.

The first season was played in 2014, which was won by Atletico de Kolkata by beating the Kerala Blasters by 1-0. The second season of ISL kicked off from 3^rd October 2015 and final will take place on 20^th December 2015. This season, one team will play 14 matches against the other seven sides twice. In total there are 56 games played during the regular season before the top 4 games go into the finals.

There are eight teams from different regions of the country. Eight teams are Atletico de Kolkata, Chennaiyin FC, Kerala Blasters, Delhi Dynamos, Goa FC, Mumbai City, North East United and Pune City. In first season, Elano from Brazil & Chennai scored the maximum number of 8 goals. ISL will boost up football awareness in India and will Indian football team to find more players so that India can register a place in FIFA top tournaments.