Mumbai City and NorthEast United are within touching distance of clinching the final two places in the ISL playoffs as the league enters Matchday 25 of 26 this week.

The leading four - Mohun Bagan Super Giant, FC Goa, Jamshedpur and Bengaluru FC, have already qualified. The top six teams make it to the playoffs with the first two - Mohun Bagan and Goa, securing a direct place in the semi-finals.

Fifth-placed Mumbai, on 33 points and just two away from qualifying, came back from two goals down to hold Mohun Bagan to a 2-2 draw. 

The recently-crowned ISL Shield champions’ Australians strikers Jamie Mclaren and Dimitri Petratos scored in the 32nd and 41st minutes before Mumbai replied in the 57th and 89th minutes via Jon Toral and Nathan Rodrigues respectively.

Mumbai played with one man down from the 58th minute when Vikram Singh was shown a second yellow card.

NorthEast take on Chennaiyin in their penultimate match later on Monday, with the Highlanders needing just one win to confirm their place in the playoffs.

Odisha, whose chances to qualify are the slimmest among the three playoff contestants with 30 points, played to a 0-0 stalemate with bottom club Mohammedan SC.

FC Goa defeated Punjab FC 1-0 thanks to a goal from Carl McHugh on the stroke of half-time. Goa remain in second place with 45 points, eight behind Mohun Bagan. 

East Bengal were lucky to beat Hyderabad 2-0, with the latter’s Manoj Mohammed scoring an own goal in the 86th minute. Raphael Bouli added the second, and his first goal for East Bengal, four minutes into time added on.

They drew 1-1 with Bengaluru in a later match, with Bouli scoring in the 11th minute before Sunil Chhetri pulled one back with a penalty one minute into injury time. 

Bengaluru had defeated Chennaiyin 1-0 in their first match earlier in the week while third-placed Jamshedpur FC drew 1-1 with Kerala Blasters.

Iran: Top two play to 0-0 result
Tractor retained their top spot in the Iran Pro League after a goalless draw with second-placed Sepahan. The leaders are on 45 points, still one ahead of their opponents after 21 games as the 2024/25 season nears its final stages.

Third-placed Persepolis, on 41 points, beat Esteghlal FC 2-1 in the Tehran derby to stretch their unbeaten run to nine matches. Star striker Ali Alipour struck in the 71st minute for Persepolis’ second goal, which sees him share top spot in the goalscoring charts alongside Sepahan’s Mehdi Taraji with nine goals.

Foolad, who are fourth and three points behind Persepolis, lost 3-0 to seventh-placed Zob Ahan while Gol Gohar defeated bottom-placed Havadar 1-0.

Malavan secured their second consecutive win with a 2-1 defeat of Esteghlal Khuzestan to move to sixth above Zob Ahan and Chadormalu on goal difference. All three are tied on 27 points, with Chadormalu losing ground after falling 1-0 to Rafsanjan.

Other matches saw Nassaji Mazandaran defeat Shams Azar by one goal while Kheybar beat Aluminium Arak by the same margin.

Champions Abdysh-Ata Kant kicked off their season by beating Muras United 4-3 on penalties to win the Kyrgyz Super Cup.

The annual curtain-raiser, contested between the league winners and Kyrgyz Cup champions, ended 0-0 in regulation.  

Abdysh-Ata’s feat is a repeat of their 2024 Super Cup win where they beat Muras United 1-0.

Photos: Abdysh-Ata Kant