Garrido on the brink as Persepolis hits new low in Iranian top flight

Spanish coach Juan Carlos Garrido’s tenure at Persepolis could be cut short after just six months, following the defending champion’s latest setback in the Persian Gulf Pro League. A 3-1 home loss to Mes Rafsanjan on Saturday saw the Tehran Reds match their worst record of four defeats after 13 games into a league campaign over the past nine seasons. Persepolis’s set-piece vulnerability was exposed again as Amirhossein Jolani and German fullback Kofi Schulz scored on two corner kicks, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead in the first half. Ali Alipour pulled one back from the spot for Garrido’s side after a VAR review deemed Schulz to have fouled substitute striker Lucas Joao, but Mohammad Alinejad restored the two-goal cushion in the 11th minute of added time, finding the empty net from 40 yards out, as Mes celebrated a third victory of the season to move up to 13 in the 16-team table.

A win would have seen Persepolis close the gap on top of the table after both Tractor and Sepahan dropped points, but the Reds – seven-time champions in the past eight seasons – are now fourth, trailing the top two by five points and one point behind Yahya Golmohammadi’s Foolad Khuzestan.  
“I don’t really have any explanation for the first-half goals. It wasn’t a tactical issue, but unforgivable individual errors,” Garrido said after the game, taking a veiled swipe at Iranian international center-back Hossein Kan’anizadegan, who was clumsy on both goals before being taken off at the break.
“We can’t afford to gift the opponent these kinds of goals. You have to be more focused in those situations. A defender has to be more resilient on set pieces and aware of where the ball is going. We were simply dreadful and disgraceful, and I can only apologize to the fans for today’s performance,” added the Spaniard, whose team was the only unbeaten team in the league until October 30 but has now lost four in six outings.
Rumors and speculations are already swirling around the future of the Reds’ bench following the defeat. Several reports in the Iranian media on Sunday suggested that the club hierarchy is willing to part ways with Garrido in the coming days, with chairman Reza Darvish in talks with the Spaniard to agree on a compensation fee.
With the club also struggling in the AFC Champions League Elite, sections of the Reds crowd at the Shaher-e Qods Stadium were outspoken in showing their frustration in the closing stages of Saturday’s game, calling for the Spanish coach to step down from his role.
Next for Persepolis is a home game against Khaybar on Friday, followed by a visit to bottom side Havadar on January 1 before the midseason break.
Tractor stunned, Sepahan held
Persepolis is still lucky to remain five points adrift of the summit, after Tractor suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at home against Shams Azar earlier in the day, while second-place Sepahan salvaged a point in a 1-1 draw away to Golgohar Sirjan.
In Tabriz’s Yadegar-e Imam Stadium, Shams Azar keeper delivered a man-of-the-match performance as Mojtaba Najjarian’s first-half strike proved the difference between the two sides, ending Tractor’s run of five consecutive league wins.  
Despite the remarkable victory, Shams Azar remains second from bottom in the table with 13 points.
Tractor will be eager to get back in the ways when playing Nassaji Mazandaran on the road next, with Shams Azar looking to build on Saturday’s triumph against Golgohar at home.
Sepahan missed a glorious opportunity to overtake Tractor on top of the standings, though Patrice Carteron’s side still felt fortunate to leave the pitch with a point after finding a controversial late equalizer.
Reza Asadi came off the bench to bag his first goal for Sepahan in 284 days in the 86th minute, canceling out Alireza Alizadeh’s second-minute opener for the home side, though TV replays clearly showed the ball going in off the striker’s arm.
Second to Tractor in the table on goal difference, Sepahan will take on Havadar on Friday, and then visits Tehran for a highly-anticipated encounter with Esteghlal at the renovated Azadi Stadium.
Elsewhere, Hassan Shoushtari’s 16th-minute spot-kick helped Zob Ahan beat Malavan 1-0 at home.
A third league defeat in a row left Maziar Zare’s Malavan in the fifth place with 18 points, with Zob Ahan in seventh with 17.
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