Sergio Lobera emphasis on importance on scoring more goals than keeping clean sheets after Odisha FC thrashing

Jamie Maclaren scored a hat-trick as Mohun Bagan SG thrashed Odisha 5-1 at home

Mohun Bagan maintained their dominant start to the 2025-26 Indian Super League, as they picked up a smashing 5-1 win over Odisha FC at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Friday (6 March, 2026). Four goals from Jamie Maclaren and an Alberto Rodriguez strike was enough to ensure that the Mariners grabbed another big win under Sergio Lobera.

The Spanish gaffer Sergio Lobera was reasonably delighted with his players’ ruthlessness in the match, but still found reason to see future improvements, as he stated: “We are in a position that makes me happy. The players played a very good game, it was a very good result and we need to be happy. I feel we need to improve our performances in the second half.

“We need to manage results, but in the second half there were too many transitions and that we need to handle better. We had chances in the second half, and they also had a chance to make it 4-2 and had a good chance to score – but we scored in the next action. We need to improve to conclude games strongly, but I’m delighted with my players and love how ambitious they are to improve. They are working very hard in training to keep improving and reach their best,” he also added.

The priority for more goals over clean sheets in Lobera’s system

When questioned if Sergio Lobera is worried about Mohun Bagan failing to keep a clean sheet in their second straight ISL game, Sergio Lobera explained: “If we convert all our chances and then concede a goal, we are going to win all games. I prefer to win 5-1 over 2-0. This means a lot to us to score more goals.

“That is my philosophy, I feel that clean sheet is important for many people, but for me the most important thing is to score a lot of goals. We have scored 10 goals in the last two games and it should be our mentality to score more goals than the opponents. Obviously we want to keep clean sheet, but sometime when you take risks, you can concede goals,” he also quipped.

Mohun Bagan’s next games to decide ISL title race fate?

With Mohun Bagan set to play formidable teams like Bengaluru FC, Mumbai City and Jamshedpur FC in their next three games, Sergio Lobera was questioned if these results can decide the fate of the 2025-26 ISL title race and he responded by saying: “My idea is that if we think about where we’ll be at the end of the season will be a big mistake.

“Our focus will be on the next game because the next step is the most important step. If we can get maximum points against our next opponents, it’s very good for us. This is a short season and the margin of errors are less, and we hadn’t made mistakes in terms of results so far. He need to keep this momentum going, put the focus on ourselves and win the next games,” he further stated.

Thoughts on Jamie Maclaren’s performance

Finally, while Sergio Lobera was delighted with Jamie Maclaren’s performance, he refused to single out praise for only the Australian forward and claimed, “I don’t like to speak about individuals, and the most important thing is the teamwork. We are working well as a team, and individuals will shine. I don’t need to speak about Jamie, because everyone knows him.

“I feel every player in my squad deserves my maximum respect, I’m very happy with the squad’s performance than any individuals. They are the reason for our wins, I have very good professionals in my squad and I love how the players are working as a coach. I’m really happy how well they are working as a team as their coach,” the Spanish coach finished off with.

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