Kerala Blasters FC head coach Mikael Stahre lamented his team’s ‘tough luck’ as they fell to a narrow 3-2 defeat against Mohun Bagan Super Giant at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on Sunday.

The match was a gripping end-to-end battle from the start. The hosts gained the upper hand in the first half and went into the break with a one-goal lead, courtesy of Jamie Maclaren, who capitalized on a costly error by Sachin Suresh.

The Blasters came roaring back after the restart, with Jesus Jimenez levelling the score just six minutes into the second half. The visitors maintained their momentum and surged ahead in the 77th minute when Milos Drincic made the most of Vishal Kaith’s mistake.

Match Report: Mohun Bagan Super Giant 3-2 Kerala Blasters FC

But the Mariners staged a dramatic late comeback. Substitute Jason Cummings scored the equalizer—his third goal of the season—before Alberto Rodriguez produced a stunning winner with what proved to be the final attack of the match.

Stahre acknowledged the opposition’s quality and depth but expressed disappointment, believing his side deserved at least a share of the spoils for their spirited performance.

“Mohun Bagan Super Giant are a good team, and of course, they have quality players, but that is the overview of the game. I think we deserved to win, but obviously, they have quality players. When they play at home, they have confidence here, but they know how we approached it and how we started the game. Unfortunately, we fell behind by one goal, but also, look at how we approached the second half,” Stahre said at the post-match press conference.

“We scored to make it 1-1 early (in the second half) and then went 2-1 up. They have quality players, that's for sure, but considering how we approached the game, how we kept the ball, how we maintained the structure, how we worked—I think we deserved at least one point and most likely the three points. But we are in this tough situation, so right now, we have to fight even harder to win games. That's the reality,” he added further.

Kerala Blasters FC endured their seventh defeat of the season, remaining in 10th place with 11 points from 12 games.

Head coach Stahre expressed his disappointment over the nature of the winning goal, describing it as the kind of strike that rarely happens but it eventually decided the outcome of the match.

While disappointed with the result, the Swedish tactician commended his players for their determination and the effort they displayed throughout the contest.


“They put some pressure in the dying minutes. And of course, like, the ball was bouncing back and forth and luckily, the centre-back (Alberto Rodriguez) hit it perfectly. I mean, if you hit the ball ten times in that situation, probably seven times it goes into the backyard, sometimes it hits the goalkeeper, but now, unluckily for us, he scored a fantastic goal.

“I can't right now say what we did wrong in that moment. Sometimes you have tough luck and that was it. But, you know, of course, we conceded too many goals, but today we played really well. I'm really proud of the team actually,” he said.

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Kerala Blasters FCMohun Bagan Super Giant2024-2025