ISL 2025-26: "Can’t come here after today to give excuses" Sergio Lobera holds responsibility after Mohun Bagan SG's draw against Inter Kashi

Mohun Bagan SG are behind East Bengal on GD

Mohun Bagan SG were held to a 0-0 draw by Inter Kashi FC in their clash at the Salt Lake Stadium in the 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) on Tuesday (12 May 2026). The goalless draw means that the Mariners remain stuck on the same points (22) as East Bengal, heading into the upcoming Kolkata derby that can decide which team wins the 25-26 ISL title.

After the game, Sergio Lobera refused to give any excuses for that frustrating display and focused on continue working.

Lobera stated: “Obviously I think that. As the coach, I have the responsibility. I’m working with the team and as a coach you can’t come here after today to give excuses. As the coach, I felt today was a very disappointing result for us. We didn’t get what we expected, but what we can only do is continue working. I don’t know another way than to continue working because we have two games and the title is in our hands.”

Lobera upbeat about Mohun Bagan SG’s ISL title-winning chances

When asked about why the Mariners are struggling to win big games as of late, the Spaniard replied: “It’s clear for me. We need to score the chances we had. I think we had chances to score today. For example, in the first half, we lost 45 minutes because we needed to do more and work better, be hungrier to get goals.”

“In the second half, the team showed more character, and I feel we played well. But we need to be more clinical in converting chances. I must congratulate Inter Kashi, in a difficult and sad situation they showed the professionalism they have and how they can compete in the ISL against us,” he also added.

Despite this draw holding them back from going top of the table, Lobera insists that his side are not under pressure heading into the Kolkata Derby.

He explained: “It’s not that we’ve put ourselves under pressure. But the feelings are important in football, today everyone is disappointed as we lost a very good opportunity to get in a very good position because if we won today and winning the next game, we’d have become champions. The situation is not the same now, today is difficult.”

“But we need to be positive today. It’s all in our hands, we don’t need to worry nothing as if we win the next two games, we become the champions. Of course, we need to be in a good mood because we need to do things better than today if we aspire to win the next games,” he further stated.

Reason for rotation and goal-scoring issues

Lobera rotated the Mohun Bagan SG side against Inter Kashi, with many of the regulars of the starting XI not being on the team sheet.

When asked about the reason for this, he claimed: “There are some situations today from the medical staff, as we missed Apuia as he wasn’t ready to play in this game. This situation gave us the chance to play him against East Bengal. Thapa also was advised against using him, we used him in the last minutes. There are still not excuses.”

“You can see the first XI and a lot of teams could use these players in their starting XI. We played with a very good first XI. We played a game two days ago and only had one training session before this. You need to manage the loads of the players to prevent injuries and have everyone fit for the remaining games. If we lost one player before FC Goa, it would’ve meant losing a player for four games. The most important thing for me is that all the players are available for the next game, and that is important,” he also quipped.

When questioned on the reason for Mohun Bagan struggling for goals in recent games, the Spaniard replied: “We are missing chances! We had chances to score, and the big problem is when you cannot create chances. But when you have chances and cannot score, that is a big problem. We want to keep ball possession and play attacking football, but you have to be clinical and be practical.”

“If you have 90% possession of the ball, but if you are not clinical in the last third. It’s also difficult to play against teams who have many players in defensive positions, to try and find spaces isn’t easy against us. I can’t complain about our performance in the second half, we tried everything, we had some chances to score but finally we couldn’t score,” he also added.

Advantage lost for Mohun Bagan SG?

Lobera indicated that although Mohun Bagan SG could’ve taken a big step forward to securing the ISL title by defeating Inter Kashi, they still remain in a strong position to claim the championship.

He explained: “Winning today could’ve helped us become champions in the next game. Now, things are in our hands. If we win the next two games, we are going to become champions. That is our mentality at the moment. It’s disappointing to draw today, but we must be positive. The title challenge depends on us.”

“Winning the next two games will help us become champions. We don’t have to see other results, the race depends on us. We need to adapt in our new scenario. It’s very important to win the derby, be it now or before. It’s very important to put focus on the next game, because we can’t change anything about today’s game,” he further stated.

Mohun Bagan SG’s squad mood after Inter Kashi draw

Finally, when asked about the atmosphere of his dressing room after this frustrating result, the Spaniard stated: “You can imagine that when you can’t win these games, the atmosphere in the dressing room isn’t good. Everyone is disappointed, everyone is not happy with the result. But tomorrow is another day, we need to think about the next one and it depends on us. There are many teams fighting to try and become champions in the next two games. I don’t think we’re in a bad position.”

“We could be in a better position; we could’ve possibly won the league three games before the season ended. But we competed against a very good opponent as well. We are not in the best possible position as we had chances to bet in a better one. Now, it depends on us and we need to win the next two games to become champions,” he finished with.

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