Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal FC on penalties to win IFA Shield after 22 years

The Mariners defeated their arch-rivals, 5–4 on penalties!

Mohun Bagan Super Giants defeated their arch-rivals East Bengal on penalties and won the IFA Shield Final 2025 in Kolkata, on a Saturday evening at Kolkata’s Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan. In the penalty shootout, Mohun Bagan defeated East Bengal 5–4 after the game ended 1–1 in extra time.

Moroccan striker Hamid Ahadad gave East Bengal the lead in the 37th minute, but Mohun Bagan midfielder Apuia equalized just before halftime with a spectacular goal. Despite East Bengal changing their goalkeeper for the shootout, the Mariners maintained composure after Jason Cummings missed the penalty for them in the 33rd minute of the game. After a 22-year wait, Mohun Bagan finally won an IFA Shield title since 2003. This was also the first time since 2003, both teams fielded their senior squad in an IFA shield final.

Recap of the intense penalty shoot-outs

After a thrilling match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, Mohun Bagan emerged victorious with their 21st IFA Shield trophy. Once again, Vishal Kaith came to the rescue for the mariners and ensured the victory for his team.

He saved the 4th penalty stroke of East Bengal, which was taken by Jay Gupta, and it emerged as the turning point of the game. The final and winning stroke for Mohun Bagan was taken by Mehtab Singh, as he sent Debjit Majumdar the wrong way, which ensured that the Mariners are the champions of the IFA Shield 2025. The other penalty takers for Mohun Bagan were Robson Robinho, Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco, Dimitri Petratos and for East Bengal Miguel, Sibille, Mahesh, Jay Gupta, and Hiroshi Ibusuki.

East Bengal’s takeaways and missed chances

East Bengal started really well and also maintained a high percentage of the ball possession during the match, and also scored first by virtue of a goal from their Moroccan striker Hamid Ahadad. But after taking the lead, Hamid’s one-shot hit the crossbar and an easy chance was missed by Hamid as well. East Bengal’s Coach Oscar Bruzon would be thinking of those missed chances.

Even he would be kicking himself for the tactical change that he made by changing the goalkeeper during the penalties. Jay Gupta’s miss, the change of goalkeepers from Gill to Debjit, or the missed chances by Ahadad during the game, all of this may be considered as the reasons for East Bengal’s loss.

Their mission for the 30th IFA Shield trophy continues, as well as the quest for the first silverware under Bruzon. So, before the Super Cup starts, Oscar Bruzon needs to fix all these problems of converting easy chances and experimental strategies.

Mohun Bagan’s takeaways

Mohun Bagan kept their composure under pressure and scored the equalizer through Apuia’s terrific strike, even after missing the penalty strike from Cummings and conceding earlier. Finally, Vishal Kaith again came to their rescue by saving a crucial penalty stroke of East Bengal.

Amidst all the protests against the management that were going on due to Mohun Bagan’s withdrawal from the AFC campaign, this win will not only boost the whole Mohun Bagan team, but also the fans will be happy after a long time. Jose Molina’s dream run of winning trophies with Mohun Bagan continues.

With this IFA Shield victory, Diwali started a bit early for the Mariners, and this will be a huge boost to their morale before the Super Cup begins next week. For East Bengal, it’s a hard pill to swallow, but they need to fix their problems and find a way how they can win clutch finals like these.

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