Matchweek 10 of the 2025-26 Indian Super League season saw Mohun Bagan retain their lead atop the table, despite not featuring this week. FC Goa, Mumbai City FC, SC East Bengal and Jamshedpur FC are within two points of the leaders as the title race heats up.
We saw impactful results at the other end of the table as well, with Mohammedan SC grabbing a third consecutive draw. There were plenty of goals, action and controversies from games 63 to 68 of the ISL, and we muse:
The title race remains tight
Mohun Bagan continue to lead the table, despite not playing this week, but the big hitters are lining up behind them. Consider this: Bagan have played 9 games and earned 20 points while seventh placed Punjab FC have played 8 and got 14. If Bagan lose their game in hand and Punjab win their two games in hand (4 of the top 7 have played 10 games), they are level on points. Just have a look at this table
In a fractious season where mere survival has been the stated aim of many clubs (on record and otherwise), a disjointed season where from day 1 anything was possible... of course the title race wasn't going to be straightforward. Bagan still hold the advantage, but it will not be smooth sailing.
BFC momentum has stalled, so has Mumbai's
Over their last three matches, Mumbai City FC and Bengaluru FC have won 2 points. Before that run started, Mumbai were leading the table, and Bengaluru were second. They've both tailed off, and the reasons differ.
For Mumbai, it was an almost natural progression: there are only so many games you can win with a lone Lallianzuala Chhangte goal. They almost pulled off a 1-0 against Jamshedpur but were put under so much pressure late on that the 92nd minute equaliser was inevitable. They were then outplayed comfortably by FC Goa and then came this 0-0 draw in Bengaluru: a match that couldn't produce 1 xG cumulatively, two decent defences cancelling each other out.
The home side, meanwhile, haven't won since replacing Renedy Singh with Pep Munoz. If you view the situation from Munoz's perspective, it's understandable really, for he needs time to get the squad to adapt to his way of playing. What's up in the air, though, is what would have happened if Renedy had been given a longer rope -- he had won 3 of his last 4, and the one non-win was a 0-0 draw against the rampant Mohun Bagan.
Meanwhile, the last three matches have seen a struggling Kerala Blasters (albeit powered by the pure drive of Ashley Westwood) get a first ever win at the Kanteerava, 10-man East Bengal seize a late draw in a 3-3 thriller (a game EB played for 70+ minutes without their best player) and this dull 0-0 vs a similarly stuck Mumbai side. Of course, none of this means that a Renedy-led side would have got nine (or even six) points from those matches, but momentum is a finicky thing -- especially in this weird, ad-hoc season we're having -- and Renedy's BFC had it on their side.
We can continue debating the coaching change at BFC and the lack of tactical flexibility at Mumbai, but what's unquestionable now is that their momentum has stalled just as we enter the business end of this season.
Nemil making Goa tick
At the other end of the momentum spectrum is FC Goa. The only team in the league to win their last three matches, they put up another clinical display against a deflated NorthEast United to climb to second in the table, a point behind Bagan (although the leaders have a game in hand).
Powering this run has been the playmaking magic of Muhammed Nemil. His goal against Mumbai City was one of the all-time great ISL goals, and he followed that up last week with an imaginative assist for Dejan Drazic's opener.
P.S. Drazic pulled up with what looked like a hamstring injury in the NEUFC game. If serious, Nemil will need to step up his G+A production to give Goa that final push at the end.
East Bengal primed to challenge Mohun Bagan
Only one team have remained unbeaten across the last five fixtures, and that's East Bengal. After a stutter mid-season, Oscar Bruzon's men have rediscovered their early season form and are smashing in goals for fun again (their 25 goals in 9 matches is six more than the next highest - Mohun Bagan) and Odisha stood no chance. A 3-0 win, yet another Youssef Ezzejjari brace and East Bengal have pulled up to within two points of their great rivals (same games played).
If they maintain this form, and Bagan maintain theirs... that May 17 derby could be the most important we've seen in quite a while.
Confusion over the last round of fixtures
What makes the end-of-season clashes so interesting isn't just the fact that the title race is so close, it's that you could get a chance to play in the ACL 2 with even a third place finish. Mohun Bagan are banned from Asian competition, FC Goa already have their slot sealed... which means a shot at Asian glory and all that it entails is very much up for grabs.
With so much at stake, so much potential drama in store, wouldn't it be wonderful if fans could book their tickets, block their schedules and put everything aside to watch their club's last match? If your answer is "of course", clearly you don't work at the All India Football Federation.
Look up the fixtures on the official ISL site and you'll see the last fixture is the Kolkata derby (the boro match) on May 17 - at the end of which every team would have played 12 matches. The only problem is that for the season to end, you would assume every team has to play every other team once... and that means every team needs to play 13.
When then, will they play this potential last round of fixtures? (They were originally scheduled for May 17, by the by). As we write this, even the clubs aren't sure... and that tells you everything you need to know about ISL 2025-26.
P.S. The Indian national team will be in action May 26 onwards at the Unity Cup in London. And we all know how they like a pre-tournament national camp...
What else happened?
Mohammed Sanan lit it up for Jamshedpur FC vs Chennaiyin (is there a more exciting player in India right now?) while homegrown youngster Prakadeswaran's stunner should give Chennaiyin hope for next season (this season is done for them, and then some).
The Blasters are turning into a force to reckon with under Westwood, but their off-field management vs fans issue remains the biggest talking point.
Mohammedan are showing stellar fighting spirit in what's been an awfully hard season for them: their 2-2 draw at SC Delhi means they've now got three points on the trot.
