Sergio Lobera proud of Mohun Bagan players' fighting spirit after thrilling draw against East Bengal in key 2025-26 ISL clash

Mohun Bagan will face Sporting Club Delhi in their last game

Mohun Bagan played out an entertaining 1-1 draw against rivals East Bengal in a pivotal penultimate clash of their 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) campaign at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday (17 May, 2026).

After substitute Edmund Lalrindika put the Torchbearers in front with a clinical goal in the 85th minute, the Mariners roared back through Jason Cummings’ equaliser minutes later. However, neither side was able to score the winner, and that means the ISL title race goes down to the wire to the final day of the campaign.

Sergio Lobera indicated that Mohun Bagan’s own problems held them back in the derby, as he stated: “East Bengal had a plan, and our plan worked for us. We had chances, we started the game really well, and maybe it was a very good game for both teams – but maybe we deserved a little bit more to win.

“I need to watch the game again, but my feeling is that our plan worked well and we had our chances to win the game. That was positive. It was more our mistakes than the plan of the other opponents clicking. If we scored the last goal with Maclaren, we would’ve spoken about another thing. It was more like the mistakes that held us back than the plan of the opponents hurting us,” Sergio Lobera also added.

SC Delhi game goal difference factor and risks taken against East Bengal

When asked about whether Mohun Bagan are capable of winning their final game against SC Delhi by a huge margin to potentially win the title on goal difference.

Sergio Lobera stated: “They need win their last game and we need to win. If they cannot win, the goal difference won’t matter, as that would mean we’re champions in this scenario. The second scenario is the goal difference. What we need to do is fight there and believe in ourselves. The title is not in our hands; this is not the ideal scenario we wanted, but we have our options, and we must fight until the end to win the title as it’s possible to do so.”

Lobera insisted that his side needed to take risks late on to score goals, and that caused them to end up conceding as well, as he explained: “We needed to take risks to win the game late on. When we made our substitutions, in situations like this, you can concede and still score. The game becomes very open for both teams; there are chances on the opposite side because you are playing box-to-box.”

“Finally, we needed to win late on, and my thoughts during the late moments were that we could score. We had the chance to score the second one in the last moments. It’s normal, because when you are making these substitutions towards the end of the game, things like the opponent’s scoring can happen in such open games,” he also added.

Could Mohun Bagan won the game in first half?

When asked if he felt his players could’ve sealed a win by converting their chances in the first half itself.

The Spaniard replied, “I think today was a really good game. East Bengal played a very good game as well, and we fought to our best. But it’s not like a case of losing two points. In the first half, the ambitions of the players and how they managed the game were very good. But with only one mistake in losing the ball in action, you put the opponent in the game.”

“Because until their goal, the feeling in the stadium was that Mohun Bagan is stronger and creating chances, but with our mistakes, we gave chances to the opponents to fight back. We must put focus on the next game, and we must wait. It’s in our hands, but it’s very difficult. We will face a very good team in SC Delhi; they play very good football, and it won’t be easy for us. Let’s see what happens for us,” he also claimed.

Relief for corner goal

The Spanish gaffer also voiced a relief to see his side score a goal from a corner in the East Bengal clash.

The coach stated, “This is the first goal we’ve scored from a corner this season. We need to score more goals like these because these moments can change everything. I need to be proud of my players because when we conceded a goal in such a difficult moment of the game, their reaction was amazing.”

“They continued fighting, believed in the end, and we had our chance to win the game. This is important because the players showed the winning mentality they have, and they continued working and believing. We didn’t get the most we could, but we need to keep this same attitude and positive mentality for the next game,” he also added.

Praise for quality of Kolkata Derby and message to players for final match

Sergio Lobera also had major praises for the quality of the Kolkata Derby, stating: “This was one of the best games for different reasons. First of all, when you are playing in front of such a packed stadium and with a title on the line to win the derby, and with both of us wanting to win the game, I feel this was one of the best games I’ve seen till now in the ISL.”

Finally, when asked about his message to the Mohun Bagan squad for their final game of the 2025-26 season, Lobera stated: “We need to believe in ourselves. We have another game, and the opponent also needs to defeat someone we failed to win against at our home.”

“When you have options, you cannot go down, and you must keep working. My message to the players would be to be ambitious for the next game and try to do our job, but let’s see what happens,” Sergio Lobera finished with.

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