Persian Gulf Pro League:
Tractor hammers Havadar to close gap on top
Tractor thrashed bottom-side Havadar 4-0 at home to move within one point of Sepahan on top of the Persian Gulf Pro League table on Saturday.
Sepahan, meanwhile, was held to a 1-1 away draw against Shams Azar but stayed atop the standings with 39 points.
Mahdi Limouchi gave Sepahan a 31st-minute lead, finding the net from the spot for his eighth goal of the campaign, only to see his strike cancelled out by Ehsan Mahrouqi five minutes later as the home side, rejuvenated under new coach Seyyed Mahdi Rahmati, moved up to 12th in the table with 18 points – three points clear of the relegation zone.
In Tabriz’s Yadegar-e Imam Stadium, Tractor bounced back from last week’s defeat against Persepolis in style, scoring three in the first half through Mahdi Torabi, Saeb Mohebbi’s own goal, and Croatian striker Tomislav Štrkalj, who joined Limouchi on top of the league’s leading marksmen chart.
Seyyed Mahdi Hosseini rounded off Tractor’s commanding performance with a fourth goal in the 81st minute – four minutes after being introduced as a substitute.
Tractor opened a three-point gap on Foolad Khuzestan, which had played to a 1-1 draw at home against fourth-placed Persepolis on the preceding night, while Havadar is rock bottom with nine points.
Elsewhere, Golgohar Sirjan continued its impressive run with a 2-1 win against Nassaji Mazandaran in Sirjan to stand fifth with 28 points.
Omid Hamedifar headed home Abolfazl Razzaqpour’s corner-kick in the 64th minute – 12 minutes after Nassaji’s Siamak Nemati had been dismissed for a second booking – and then Tajikistani substitute Amadoni Kamolov’s effort from behind the box hit the post and went in off Nassaji keeper Luan Polli’s shoulder to double the advantage for Mahdi Tartar’s men.
Mehrdad Rezaei’s point-blank header pulled one back for the visiting side in the third minute of added time, but it proved too little, too late as Nassaji remained second from bottom in the table with 15 points.
In Isfahan, Zob Ahan and Khaybar shared the spoils in a 2-2 stalemate at the Fooladshahr Stadium.
Fariborz Gerami and Omid Latifi scored for Zob Ahan either side of strikes from Kahybar’s Faraz Emam-Ali and Mohammad-Javad Mohammadi inside three minutes in the second half.
Zob is sixth in the table with 24 points, with Khaybar in 13th on 17 points.
Chadormalou won a first game in nine league outings, beating Malavan 1-0 at home, courtesy of Ali Khodadi’s goal seven minutes from normal time.
The home side is eighth with 23 points, while Malavan – without a victory in eight games – dropped to 10th with 20 points.