ISL 2024-25 September's Hits and Misses: East Bengal to Sunil Chhetri, Best and Worst Clubs to Top and Flop Players of the Month

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The opening three weeks of the ISL in September provided plenty of exciting footballing action for fans. While familiar faces like Bengaluru FC have continued their strong form from last season, surprise packages like Jamshedpur and Punjab FC have also enjoyed breakthrough performances in this year's ISL.

Last month was one for the attackers, as September's fixtures saw goals galore in almost every match. A total of 56 goals were scored in 16 matches, with none of the fixtures ending in goalless draws. Let's have a look at which clubs and players were the winners and losers in the ISL September roundup.

ISL 2024-25 September Hits

Best Club - Punjab FC

While there are plenty to cheer about in the initial weeks of this season's ISL, one club which has defied all expectations in the nascent stages is Punjab FC. Despite earning promotion only one year ago, the Mohali-based outfit has outplayed everyone that they have faced in the ISL so far. The team have won three out of three matches, defeating strong oppositions such as Odisha FC and Kerala Blasters.

Such incredible performances from the Shers have put them in second position in the ISL table, behind table-toppers Bengaluru FC only on goal difference. This has been a real fairy tale start for the ISL newcomers, who only managed an eighth-placed finish in last year's ISL edition.

Due to their meteoric rise in the opening three weeks of the ISL, they have been adjudged September's best team in the league.

Best Player: Sunil Chhetri

The star who refuses to burn out! Even though he turned 40 in August, Sunil Chhetri continues to set the standards for Indian footballers in the ISL. Despite his advanced age, he has played some of the best football of his career in last month's ISL fixtures.
The Bengaluru FC captain has scored three goals in his side's last two league games, currently leading the ISL top scorer list.

After a quiet opening-day game where played about an hour against East Bengal, he roared back against Hyderabad FC. Despite coming on as a second-half substitute, the veteran striker coolly dispatched off a penalty in the 85th minute after a foul of Roshan Singh. Chhetri then added to his tally, with a bullet header from the centre of the box in injury time beating Arshdeep Singh.

Chhetri kept up his scoring touch in the 3-0 win against Mohun Bagan Super Giant as well, scoring a perfect penalty in the 51st minute. Other than his goal, the skipper was a constant goal threat, creating two chances for his teammates as well.

As a result of his fox-in-the-box performance in the opening matches of this season, Sunil Chhetri can be chosen as the best player in ISL for the month of September.

ISL 2024-25 September Misses

Worst Club: East Bengal

For East Bengal fans, the last few seasons have been like a never-ending nightmare, and the pattern seems to continue in the opening stages of this year's ISL as well. The Red and Gold brigade have lost all three of their opening matches, conceding the bottom spot in the table to Hyderabad FC only due to goal difference.

The Kolkata-based club started their ISL journey with a 1-0 defeat against Bengaluru FC. Despite the narrow margin, the hosts were in complete control of the match throughout. Other than conceding a goal to 19-year-old Vinith Venkatesh, East Bengal ended the match with 10 men after Chungnunga Lal was sent off late in the match.

East Bengal's misery continued against Kerala Blasters. Despite leading the match courtesy of a fantastic team goal from Vishnu Puthiya, the away team failed to hold on to their advantage and eventually lost the game 2-1 after conceding two goals in 30 minutes.

The theme of 'so near but so far' was again seen in their first home game against FC Goa. In one of the most entertaining matches of the month, second-best East Bengal clawed back from a two-goal deficit courtesy of a penalty goal from Madih Talal. But instead of rallying behind the team, the home team seemed to buckle under the immense pressure. The team continued to be sloppy in possession, allowing former player Borja Herrera to complete his hat trick and win the match 3-2.

East Bengal's downtrodden performances have seen them still searching for their first victory in the league after three one-goal losses, and therefore they are ISL's worst team of September.

Worst Player - Naorem Mahesh Singh

Other than being adjudged the worst club of the month, East Bengal will also suffer the ignominy of having its forward Naorem Mahesh Singh selected as the worst player of ISL in September.

The 25-year-old wide attacker has been one of the worst performers in an overall disappointing East Bengal team over the opening three fixtures in the ISL. Despite starting all three of his team's matches in September, the forward has been unable to find the net even once.

His performances have forced East Bengal to rely on the youngster Vishnu Puthiya, who has more goal contributions than Naorem despite fewer minutes on the pitch. In fact, Naorem has seen his minutes reduced as the matches have passed by, with the attacker being hauled off at half-time in the last match against FC Goa.

Naorem's lack of goal threat from the right side has led to a lopsided attack for his team, with teams easily sniffing out any counterattacks that the Red and Gold are mounting.

This has been a massive fall from grace for Naorem Mahesh Singh, who has also lost his place in the national team as a result. The attacker, who was one of East Bengal's main threats at the end of last year's ISL, will hope for a sharp turn in his fortunes if he wants to continue as one of the best Indian attackers in the ISL.