Persian Gulf Pro League:
Tractor, Sepahan win as Persepolis falls further off the pace
Tractor and Sepahan tightened their grip on the title race in the Persian Gulf Pro League after respective victories over Mes Rafsanjan and Chadormalou on return to Iranian top-flight action on Tuesday.
Persepolis, meanwhile, was held to a frustrating goalless draw at 10-man Zob Ahan to lose further ground at the top of the table, while Foolad Khuzestan took advantage of the Tehran Reds’ slip, beating Nassaji Mazandaran 1-0 at home – courtesy of Mohammad Asgari’s 84th-minute strike – to move up to the third place.
In Tabriz’s Yadegar-e Imam Stadium, Tractor’s prolific front three Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh, Tomislav Štrkalj, and Mahdi Hashemnejad were on the scoresheet, with Sajjad Ashouri and Danial Esmaeilifar adding a couple of late goals against Reza Jabireh’s consolation for Mes, as Tractor thrashed the visiting strugglers 5-1 to remain top with 35 points, equal on points with second-placed Sepahan.
Sepahan, fresh from a Super Cup triumph against Persepolis, had a Mohammad-Mahdi Mohebbi’s stoppage-time winner to thank for a hard-fought 2-1 away win against Chadormalou to keep pace with Tractor.
Center-back Mohammad Daneshgar gave Sepahan a 79th-minute lead with a looping header from an acute angle, only to see his goal canceled out by Ali Kamali Jelodar in the fourth minute of added time.
Just when the host thought it had done enough to salvage a point, Mohebbi slotted home a 98th-minute winner, before his provocative ‘night night’ celebration led to a heated quarrel between the two sets of players and benches, while the Sepahan striker was shown a second yellow card and received his marching orders.
In Isfahan, Persepolis failed to capitalize on a one-man advantage after Zob Ahan’s Hassan Shoushtari was dismissed with a second booking eight minutes before the break.
The Reds desperately knocked on the door in the second half, with Farshad Ahmadzadeh hitting the crossbar from close range, though they still felt lucky to leave the Fooladshahr Stadium with a point.
Zob Ahan substitute Behnam Taherkhani was brought down in the box by Morteza Pouraliganji in the 95th minute but referee Vahid Zamani refused to point to the spot, despite a VAR review, and was suspended “until further notice” by the federation’s Referees Committee after the game.
The stalemate saw Persepolis fell to fourth in the table – trailing the top two by five points – while there were further blow for the holders after integral Uzbek winger Oston Urunov was forced off in the first half with a hamstring problem to be a doubt for Sunday’s crunch encounter with Tractor in Tehran.
Elsewhere, Esteghlal got off to a dreadful start to the second half of the league campaign, suffering a shock 1-0 home loss against Shams Azar on return to the renovated Azadi Stadium on Monday.
Amir Shabani bagged the winner in the 64th minute, as former Blues keeper Seyyed Mahdi Rahmati celebrated a winning debut as Shams Azar head coach, which saw his team move out of the relegation zone, while Esteghlal dropped to 11th with 18 points.
In Khorramabad, Mehrdad Qanbari and Mohsen Sefid-Choqaei scored in each half to help Khaybar defeat bottom-club Havadar 2-0 at home.
Iralco’s Amin Kazemian netted his seventh goal of the season in the first half before Sajjad Shahbazzadeh drew Esteghlal Khuzestan level right before the hour mark as the two sides shared the spoils in Arak.
Fifth-place Golgohar Sirjan continued its impressive campaign under Mahdi Tartar, beating Malavan 1-0 at home for a third successive league victory – thanks to Mahdi Tikdari’s goal in the 32nd minute.
The defeat was the sixth in seven league outing for Malavan, which had to play with nine men for the best part of the second half following red cards for Mohammadreza Rezaei and Reza Ghandipour.