Mohun Bagan Secure ISL Double, Lift Cup After Winning League Shield Earlier In Season

Mohun Bagan Super Giant on Saturday secured a memorable Indian Super League double, lifting the ISL Cup after beating Bengaluru FC 2-1 in a tense final in Kolkata to add to the League Winners' Shield it had won earlier in the season. After a goal-less first half, Mohun Bagan's Alberto Rodriguez scored an own goal in the 49th minute to give Bengaluru FC the lead. Mohun Bagan striker Jason Cummings then struck from the penalty spot to restore parity in the 72nd minute. The match went into the extra time and Jamie Maclaren scored the decisive goal after six minutes (96th) to the wild celebrations of the vociferous Mohun Bagan supporters at the Salt Lake Stadium.

Mohun Bagan thus became only the second team in the ISL history to clinch the League Winners' Shield as well as the ISL Cup in the same season, after Mumbai City did the same in the 2020-21.

The top team in the points table after home and away league matches among the 13 participating clubs wins the League Winners' Shield. Mohun Bagan had finished on top with 56 points after 24 gruelling matches to lift the Shield and also qualify for the AFC Champions League 2, the second tier club competition in Asia.

After the league phase, a knock-out round is played involving the top six teams on the points table. Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC won their respective semifinals to set up Saturday's summit clash to decide the ISL Cup winners.

MBSG banked on the crowd support to make a defining start to the game, with Jamie Maclaren coming close with a right footed shot from the same side of the box, which was saved in the bottom left corner by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in the ninth minute.

They kept functioning dynamically in tandem, as Anirudh Thapa, usually pulling the strings at the