There are screamers, then there are screamers. This is very firmly in the latter category.
Milan Singh has been in astounding form for Delhi Dynamos this season and has been a powerhouse in the middle of the field scoring 2 vital goals (including this brilliant effort) from 5 shots on goal.
Trailing to an inspired Kolkata team - and a man down after Badara Badji managed to get himself sent off in the most tragi-comic of manners – Delhi were looking for some opportunity to get a foothold back in the game.
Hurtling down the right of the park, Milan skipped infield with abrupt suddenness – ignoring rather than evading Didika Ralte's challenge. Finding himself in the middle of the park, he sensed an opportunity, and with one touch set himself up to let fly. With the imposing figure of Tiri rushing out to close him down, and Borja Fernandes and Sereno blocking his line of sight to the goal – Milan still had quite a bit to do. Not to forget, he was more than 25 yards from goal, and on his weaker left foot. It would require the most precise of finishes.
And boy! Did he deliver, allying said precision with brutal power to hammer in an unstoppable curler that careened into the back of the net. It was a goal that could have graced any football stadium in any part of the world and would have been met with the same mixture of awe, glee and sheer delight.
You can catch the goal from another angle at around the 15 sec. mark in the below video
He's done this before too – arrowing in a low right-footer to help Delhi pull level late in their match-up with Pune, a result that catalysed their tremendous ascent to the top of the table.
An all-action midfielder in the true sense of the word he isn't afraid of putting himself about and has committed 23 fouls this season. More importantly, he has broken up opposition play with monotonous regularity and his metronomic passing helps Delhi's smooth transition from attack to defence – a feature of their play which has enabled them to climb to the top of the ISL table.
Hailing from Manipur – the hotbed of footballing talent that has produced so many great players – he started off with the Pailan Arrows, captaining them in 2012-13, before moving on to Shillong Lajong and then the DSK Shivajians. He came into the debut ISL season with NorthEast United, before moving on to the Delhi Dynamos; where he has well and truly broken into the limelight.
Enjoying life under the tutelage of the Italian legend Gianluca Zambrotta, Singh is developing into a wonderful creative influence – and his endless running and relentless determination has endeared him further to the coach.
Having been already capped at the U-23 level for India, a senior team call should come around sooner rather than later for the pulsating heartbeat of the Delhi midfield.
