The 2024-25 season of the Indian Super League is in full swing, and with games coming thick and fast, this is a convenient place to catch up on every match. We’ll have a report after every match, right up to the rest day signalling the end of the matchweek.
ISL Standings | ISL Results and Fixtures
The report on all matches from matchweek 7 is here.
Here are the details for matchweek 8 of ISL 2024-25 with the latest match report coming first.
Bengaluru FC 2-2 NorthEast United
(Alaaeddine Ajaraie 8′, 14′ – Alberto Noguera 11′, Ryan Williams 70′)
Alaaeddine Ajaraie continued his wonder form this ISL season as he added two more goals to his tally, but NorthEast United once again dropped points from a winning position, as they drew 2-2 against Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Friday.
Ajaraie gave the visitors the lead with a stunning left-footed volley after a searching long pass from Dinesh Singh found him in the box.That lead lasted only three minutes though, as Alberto Noguera latched on to a loose ball on the edge of the box and laced a thunderbolt past Gurmeet Singh. Parity, though, lasted only three minutes, as confusion in the Bengaluru defence gave Ajaraie another opportunity, and he scored his 11th goal of the season so far.
Ajaraie became the fastest player to reach 10 career ISL goals, beating the previous record held by Coro, who got there in 10 games. However, like many of his 11 goals so far, these two also didn’t come in victory, as Ryan Williams – making his return from an injury which kept him out for the last seven games – was fed perfectly by Mohamed Salah, and the Aussie made no mistake with a finish from close range. Bengaluru remain top of the league, but their lead is only four points, even as Mohun Bagan Super Giant have two games in hand on them. NorthEast United, on the other hand, jumped up to third on the table.
Kerala Blasters 1-2 Hyderabad FC
(Jesus Jimenez 13′ – Andrei Alba 43′, 70′ (P))
Hyderabad FC earned only their second win of the season with a comeback win away to the Kerala Blasters. The result meant Hyderabad climbed to 11th in the table, a point behind the Blasters in tenth.
17-year-old Korou Singh replaced Rahul KP in the lineup and immediately repaid his manager’s faith in him by creating the opening goal. Leading a transition down the right wing, Korou deceived Parag Shrivas with a shimmy of his hips and skipped past him into the box, before cutting the ball back to an onrushing Jesus Jimenez, who stroked the ball home to give the hosts in the 13th minute. Korou was instrumental in another chance soon after, with a superb 1-2 with Adrian Luna earning him space on the right, but his cross narrowly evaded Jimenez’s head.
Hyderabad found a way back into the game a few minutes before the break, after Andrei Alba equalised for Thangboi Singto’s men. Parag Shrivas’s underlap down the left was cleverly found by Hmar Chunga, and the fullback skipped past Hormipam in the box, before laying off a cutback to an onrushing Alba in the box, and his side-footed finished nestled in the side-netting. Substitutes Edmilson and Rahul KP spurned great chances to score in the second half for either side, and the Blasters were made to pay when Hormipan conceded a penalty – with replays showing the handball was non-existent.
Alba stepped up and finished emphatically from the spot, giving Hyderabad the lead in the 70th minute. The Blasters threw the kitchen sink forward, and Hyderabad nearly doubled their lead as Abdul Rabeeh hit the post after a 2-on-1 counter, and spurned another chance from a narrow angle a few minutes later. However, it didn’t matter, as Hyderabad held on for the win and a precious three points.
FC Goa 2-1 Punjab FC
(Armando Sadiku 22′, Iker Guarrotxena 49′ – Asmir Suljic 13′)
FC Goa leapfrogged Punjab FC into third place in the ISL table, thanks to a 2-1 win at home. Manolo Marquez’s side have the same 12 points as Punjab, but have played a couple of games more.
Punjab silenced the crowd with the opening goal in the thirteenth minute, after Asmir Suljic stroked home a low drive from Nihal Sudeesh’s cross from the left – which included a clever dummy from Luka Majcen as well. Goa weren’t behind for too long however, as Iker Guarrotxena found Armando Sadiku in the right channel inside the box, and the striker finished deftly from a narrow angle to make it 1-1 in the 22nd minute. Both sides spurned presentable chances to take the lead late in the first half, but went into the break on level terms.
Goa didn’t take long to take the lead in the second half, with Guarrotxena at the heart of the move. He played through Dejan Drazic on the left, and he beat Leon Augustine before powering a low drive at goal. Ravi Kumar in the Punjab net could only parry the ball into danger, and Guarrotxena nicked the ball ahead of Suresh Meitei and toe-poked it into the net. Punjab’s misery was compounded by centre-back Ivan Novoselec going off with an injury immediately after. Punjab had most of the ball in the second half but laboured in vain as Goa held firm to gain all three points – including a couple of excellent blocks from Sandesh Jhingan.