Persian Gulf Pro League:
10-man Sepahan salvages victory at Paykan, keeps perfect run
Sepahan again proved to be the real deal in the new Persian Gulf Pro League season after coming from behind to beat Paykan 3-1 on Tuesday an maintain a perfect start to the Iranian top-flight campaign.
An ill-fated back pass by Sepahan defender Nilson Júnior fell into the path of Hamed Pakdel, who went past goalkeeper Payam Niazmand before Reza Qandipour found the empty net from close range to give the home side a surprise lead on the half-hour mark.
Summer signing Reza Asadi drew the visitors level with a thumping header 10 minutes later but Sepahan went down to 10 men right before the interval when Mohammad Daneshgar received his marching orders for bringing goal-bound Ebrahim Salehi down behind the box.
Ramin Rezaeian’s strike from the edge of the area went in off Paykan’s Iman Akbari midway through the second half and substitute Arya Yousefi’s sizzling effort found the top corner with one minute left on the clock to secure all three points for Jose Morais’s men.
A fourth successive victory the season kept Sepahan atop the table before September’s international break.
Elsewhere, Golgohar and Malavan played to 1-1 draw in Sirjan.
Saeed Saharkhizan equalized for the home side with 20 minutes remaining to cancel out Reza Ja’fari’s 57th-minute opener for Malavan.
Nassaji Mazandaran celebrated a first victory of the season, defeating San’at Naft Abadan 3-1 at home.
Mohammadreza Abbasi, Iraqi Alaa Abbas, and Farshid Esmaeili scored for the host, with Taleb Rikani bagging a consolation for Abdollah Veisi’s side.
Tuesday’s results came after Esteghlal edged out Esteghlal Khuzestan 1-0 at the Azadi Stadium on the preceding night, thanks to a Mehrdad Mohammadi’s second-half header – the 1,000th goal in the history of the Iranian Pro League for the Tehran Blues.
In Tabriz, a late strike by Mehdi Abdi, who joined on loan from Persepolis last week, saw Tractor notch up the first points of the campaign with a 1-0 home win against Mes Rafsanjan.