Persian Gulf Pro League:
Foolad, Persepolis share the spoils in Kartal debut
Turkish head coach Ismail Kartal was denied maximum points on his Persepolis debut as the Tehran Reds played to a 1-1 draw at Foolad Khuzestan in the Persian Gulf Pro League on Friday.
Persepolis striker Ali Alipour, the joint leading marksman in the Iranian top flight, missed a glorious opportunity to take his tally to eight goals for the season, as his spot-kick was parried away by Uzbek keeper Utkir Yusupov after the referee had deemed ex-Persepolis defender Ali Nemati to have handled the ball in the box with eight minutes into the game.
The visitors still took the lead late in the first half at the Foolad Arena, with Issa Alekassir heading home Saeid Mehri’s deflected effort in the 39th minute.
The home side, which had a one-point lead over its guest prior to the kickoff, desperately pushed for an equalizer after the break and was rewarded for its brave performance with 11 minutes from normal time, when substitute Abolazl Zadeh-Attar was first to the ball on the rebound on a corner kick to head the ball into the back of the net – a second goal in seven league games for Foolad’s academy product.
“Our strikers should have done better with keeping the ball in the opposition half,” Kartal said after the game, adding: “We controlled the game in the closing stages but just couldn’t find the winner. I guess the draw was a fair result in the end. We will now be focused on our next game against Al Hilal.”
The game was the first in a hectic fixtures list for Persepolis and Kartal over the next 25 days – starting with a visit to Riyadh to face Saudi heavyweight Al Hilal in the AFC Champions League Elite on Tuesday.
The Capital Reds will then take on Golgohar, Sepahan in the Hazfi Cup, Al Nassr on the final day of the league phase in Asia, and Iralco, before squaring off against Esteghlal in the Tehran Derby on February 27.
Esteghlal won a first league game in seven matches on Thursday, beating nine-man Esteghlal Khuzestan 2-0 at home.
Interim coach Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh was back in charge of the Blues bench for a second spell this season, after South African Pitso Mosimane had walked away from his job over unpaid salaries on Wednesday.
The visitors went down to 10 men after Mohammad Abshak was shown a straight red midway through the first half, but the home supporters at the Shahr-e Qods Stadium had to wait until the 72nd minute, when Ramin Rezaeian broke the deadlock from the spot.
Es. Khuzestan defender Aram Abbasi also received his marching orders in the 88th minute and Rezaeian bagged his second goal of the night again with a penalty in stoppage time, as Esteghlal moved up to eight in the table with 22 points ahead of Monday’s home game agianst Al Shorta of Iraq in the Asian elite clubs’ competition.