Persian Gulf Pro League roundup:
Esteghlal, Sepahan flying high; Persepolis hits rock bottom in Ahvaz
The latest round of the Persian Gulf Pro League fixtures on Tuesday was one to forget for Persepolis supporters.
As if a frustrating afternoon in Ahvaz’s Ghadir Stadium, which led to a 2-2 stalemate against the bottom-side Esteghlal Khuzestan, was not enough, Sepahan and Esteghlal ran riot against their opponents – a day after Tractor and Malavan had won their games against Paykan and Mes Rafsanjan respectively to overtake the Tehran Reds in the Iranian top-flight standing.
Javad Aqaeipour gave Esteghlal Khuzestan – yet to win a game in 13 outings this season – the lead twice in the early stages of the two halves, only to see the defending champion draw the scoreline level on both occasions, courtesy of a Hossein Kan’anizadegan’s spot-kick as well as a first goal in nine appearances for Swedish summer signing Nabil Bahoui.
The result, coupled with an inept performance, was the latest episode in a below-par run for Yahya Golmohammadi and his men, who have had a single victory in nine matches across all competitions since early November, while crashing out of the AFC Champions League group stage.
Having lifted six top-flight trophies in the previous seven seasons, Persepolis is fifth in the table with 22 points – six adrift of the league leader Esteghlal with a game in hand.
Unlike their archrivals, the Tehran Blues proved to have recovered from the emotional burden of last Thursday’s Capital Derby when they welcomed Nassaji Mazandaran to the Azadi Stadium later on Tuesday.
Armin Sohrabian headed home late in the first half before Mehrdad Mohammadi, Arman Ramezani, and Abolfazl Jalali added three in six minutes after the break as the 4-0 triumph saw Javad Nekounam’s side leapfrog Sepahan to the top spot, hours after the Isfahan-based club had walked away with a 5-0 win at Havadar.
There were consequences for an ex-Blue goalkeeper in Mahdi Rahmati, who stepped down from his role as the Nassaji head coach after a seventh defeat of the campaign left the club struggling in the relegation zone.
Meanwhile, a fifth league victory on the bounce – 10th in 12 games – again showcased Sepahan’s determination to win a first top-flight title since 2015, despite Jose Morais’s side being deducted four points by the Iranian football governing body for a ‘budget cap violation’ earlier in the season.
In-form international fullback Ramin Rezaeian got Sepahan off the mark nine minutes into the game and Shahriyar Moghanlou added a double – the second coming from the spot – to steer his side to a three-goal lead at the break and move atop the league’s leading marksmen chart with eight goals – alongside teammate Reza Asadi who rounded off the victory six minutes from normal time, following substitute Kaveh Rezaei’s second strike in as many games.
There were no goals elsewhere in the other three fixtures on Tuesday, as Iralco and Golgohar played to a draw in Arak, the same outcome in Shams Azar’s home encounter with San’at Naft Abadan, while Zob Ahan shared the spoils with Foolad Khuzestan to sit behind Persepolis in the table.
On Monday, Mahdi Abdi – on a season-long loan from Persepolis – bagged a brace late in the game as Tractor beat Paykan 2-0 at home, despite playing with 10 men for the best part of the second half after Iraqi midfielder Safa Hadi was shown a second yellow card four minutes after the interval.
A third victory in a row lifted Paco Jemez’s side to the third spot with 24 points – two above Mahdi Tartar’s Malavan FC, which continued its fairy tale run with a 4-1 thrashing of Mes in Rafsanjan.
Pedram Qazipour was on target twice in six minutes before Brazilian Luciano Pereira pulled one back for the host right before halftime.
Mes midfielder Jalaleddin Alimohammadi received his marching orders for a second bookable offence on the hour mark and things went from bad to worse for the home side 12 minutes later when Mohammadreza Soleimani restored the two-goal cushion for Tartar’s team with a spot kick.
Pouria Pourali’s composed finish secured a sixth win for fourth-place Malavan, which tallied five victories across the whole of the previous campaign to only avoid relegation.