Persian Gulf Pro League:
Depleted Sepahan sunk by Golgohar; Persepolis edges Nassaji
A rescheduled double header at the Persian Gulf Pro League saw short-handed Sepahan fall to a 3-1 defeat at Golgohar Sirjan on Thursday, with Persepolis laboring to a 1-0 victory over Nassaji Mazandaran at home.
Alireza Alizadeh headed home a Roberto Torres’ corner-kick to give Golgohar the lead 14 minutes into the game before things went from bad to worse for Sepahan two minutes after the break when fullback Arshia Sarshoq received his marching orders for a second bookable offense.
Torres doubled the advantage for the home side with a 52nd-minute stunner from the edge of the box but Shahriar Moghanlou pulled one back for the visitors from the penalty spot seven minutes later – a ninth goal of the campaign for the leading marksman of the Iranian top flight.
Masih Zahedi’s header secured maximum points for the host two minutes from normal time as Golgohar moved up to seventh in the table with 22 points, while Sepahan remained on top with 31 points despite suffering a second league loss in four days.
Tuesday’s ruling by the Appeal Committee of the Iranian Football Federation to overturn a Disciplinary Committee’s decision to deduct four points from Sepahan over breaching the new transfer rules had seen the club overtake Esteghlal on top of table.
However, Portuguese manager Jose Morais had to do without a number of key players for the visit to Sirjan after Payam Niazmand, Reza Shekari, Kaveh Rezaei, Ehsan Pahlevan, Hadi Mohammadi, and Reza Asadi were banned for the wrongdoings in their contracts while the latter had already been suspended for a red card in the previous game against Iralco – alongside Bryan Dabo and Mohammad Karimi – and in-form fullback Ramin Rezaeian was ruled out of the contest with a muscle injury.
At Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, Yahya Golmohammadi’s Persepolis again had to make a hard work of the three points at home as the win against Nassaji meant the Reds will reach the midway point of the season on Monday – away to Mes Rafsanjan – with five one-goal victories in eight home fixtures, while sharing the spoils with Zob Ahan, San’at Naft, and Esteghlal.
Having last found the net against Paykan in mid-October, Shahab Zahedi headed in Mahdi Torabi’s pinpoint cross on the half-hour mark on his return to the starting XI to take his tally to five for the season.
As integral winger Torabi ran out of steam in the second period, Golmohammadi’s men looked out of clues in the opposition half and had to hold off a late surge by the visiting side, which had new head coach Lucas Alcaraz on the bench for the first time since the Spaniard replaced Mahdi Rahmati.
The hard-fought victory was still enough to see Persepolis, who also had a point restored by the Appeal Committee, move level on 29 points with archrival Esteghlal in the table – sitting third on goal difference – but more work needs to be done for the second part of the campaign if the Reds fancy a seventh league crown in eight seasons.
Al Hilal test
Meanwhile, Sepahan was given probably the hardest task in the knockout phase of the AF Champions League in Thursday’s draw, as the Iranian club will face Saudi giant Al Hilal – the most decorated club in the history of the competition with four titles – in the two-legged last-16 fixture.
Sepahan will be the only Iranian side in the knockouts, thanks to a second-place finish behind Al Ittihad in Group C of the Asian elite clubs’ competition, while Al Hilal will head into the first leg on February 12 – hosted by Sepahan – on the back of winning Group D.
The second leg will be played in Riyadh seven days later.
A summer of spending spree saw Al Hilal secure the services of Neymar and his fellow Brazilian Malcom, Serbian internationals Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, as well as Kalidou Koulibaly, Rúben Neves, and Moroccan keeper Yassine Bounou and is yet to concede a defeat across all competitions this season – sitting comprehensively atop the Saudi Pro League table with 16 wins in 18 matches.
Elsewhere in the West Zone last-16 round, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr will square off against Al Fayha in an all-Saudi tie, with Nasaf FC of Uzbekistan playing the UAE’s Al Ain.
Navbahor vs. Al Ittihad completes the last-16 lineup in the West.