Will Persepolis, Esteghlal go all out for bragging rights in Tehran derby?
By Amirhadi Arsalanpour
Staff writer
When Tehran archrivals Persepolis and Esteghlal squared off in the Persian Gulf Pro League back in April, the result turned out to set the tone for the remainder of last season’s title race.
Issa Alekasir’s second-half strike was enough for Persepolis to walk away with the maximum points, which saw the Reds overtake their fierce rivals and Sepahan on the same matchday before winning the next three games for a sixth Iranian top-flight trophy in seven years.
The result also proved to be the beginning of the end for Portuguese manager Ricardo Sa Pinto, who parted ways with the Blues after a season in charge following another derby defeat in the Hazfi Cup final in May.
However, with the ongoing league campaign yet to reach the halfway mark, the outcome of the 102nd capital derby on Thursday is hardly going to be a season-defining result for either of the two sides, but the two head coaches, Yahya Golmohammadi and Javad Nekounam, could still have their own reasons to give it their best shot for the bragging rights.
Saturday’s narrow one-goal win against Havadar gave Persepolis a first victory in six matches across all competitions, bringing relief for the Reds boss Golmohammadi, who had sections of the home crowd chanting against him after the final whistle of the 2-1 home defeat against Al Duhail last week, one that saw the club crash out of the AFC Champions League group stage.
The mood on stands on Saturday was in stark contrast with the one against the Qatari champion, but Golmohammadi, whose team has been plagued by injuries in recent weeks, knows a defeat on Thursday could easily lead to the fans turning against their head coach again.
For all the success Golmohammadi has enjoyed over the past four years with – featuring three league titles, a Hazfi Cup trophy, and a runner-up finish in the Asian elite clubs competition – Golmohammadi has thoroughly been blamed by the supporters and ex-Persepolis players for his ongoing rift with club chairman Alireza Darvish dominating the Reds campaign.
On the opposite bench, meanwhile, Nekounam will be hoping to cement his status as the right man for the Blues job with a first derby triumph in the league for Esteghlal since March 2018.
The former Iranian skipper has beaten the odds to steer his team to the top spot of the table, despite a rather quiet transfer window in the summer as well as his own version of falling-out with the club hierarchy.
Still, barely producing convincing performances, Esteghlal has been struggling with creating chances over the course of the 90 minutes –most reflected in Saturday’s goalless stalemate at Foolad Khuzestan, which saw Sepahan close the gap on top thanks to 4-1 thrashing of Mes Rafsanjan.
Boasting the most formidable squad in the league, Sepahan did a great job to bounce back from a four-point deduction – due to a ‘budget cap violation’ – earlier in the season and is widely regarded as the favorite to lift the ultimate prize by the end of the campaign, but Nekounam will be looking to build on a statement win on Thursday to establish his side as the only threat to the Isfahan-based side’s title quest.
Persepolis and Esteghlal have occasionally received criticism for adopting a conservative approach in the Tehran derby over the years, but the prospect of what a massive victory could mean for both this time around could be tempting enough for the two managers to go all out for it on Thursday.