Persian Gulf Pro League:
Persepolis coach Kartal rues narrow squad after Iralco stalemate
Persepolis head coach Ismail Kartal complained about the lack of depth in his squad after the Tehran Reds were held to a 1-1 draw at Iralco in the Persian Gulf Pro League on Saturday.
Aref Haji-Eidi headed home Amin Jahankohan’s corner kick in the 67th minute – the ninth set-piece goal conceded by Persepolis this season – before Ali Alipour secured a point for the visitors with his eighth goal of the campaign two minutes from normal time.
The stalemate extended the Reds’ winless run to three games in all competitions, with the club managing a single win in six outings since Kartal took over on the bench in late January.
With Persepolis skipper Omid A’alishah joining Oston Urunov, Vahid Amiri, and Saeid Sadeqi in the injury list before the game, Farshad Ahmadzadeh was the only recognized winger available for selection, as Kartal opted for Yassin Salmani and Mohammad Khodabandelou on the flanks.
“We are missing five or six players with injury. I had to pick midfielders, who play as a number six or eight, for the wide areas. I’m sure an established winger would have done better with carrying the ball into box and feeding the strikers,” Kartal said after the game.
“There is nothing we can do about the situation and we’ll have to continue with the players at our disposal until the end of the season. We’ll stick with our philosophy and keep fighting for the title.
“I knew Persepolis is vulnerable on set pieces before I took the job, though today’s goal was the first we have conceded on corner-kicks since I came here. As I said, we are short of players in certain positions, and cannot cope with the physical burden of playing every four or five days,” added the former Fenerbahce boss.
Saturday’s draw, coupled with victories for Tractor and Sepahan, left Persepolis drifting further away from the top two in the table.
The defending champion is now third with 38 points – trailing Tractor and Sepahan by six and five points respectively – with 10 games remaining.
With Persepolis having already crashed out of the AFC Champions League Elite and the Iranian Hazfi Cup within the past 10 days, the Reds faithful fear the end of an era for their team’s golden, yet ageing, generation – a group which have dominated the Iranian top flight with seven titles in eight years.
“A lot of things will definitely have to change at the club when the right time comes,” said Kartal, hinting at a massive shakeup in the squad in the summer transfer window.
Two-horse race
Elsewhere on Saturday, Croatian winter signing Tractor Domagoj Drozdek bagged his second goal in four league games to help Tractor edge out Khaybar 1-0 in Tabriz’s Yadegar-e Imam Stadium.
The narrow victory was enough to send Tractor back on top the league table 44 points, while Khaybar remained 12th in the 16-team table with 20 points – four clear of the relegation zone.
Sepahan had temporarily taken the lead in the title race on Friday, thanks to a 4-1 hammering of Zob Ahan at home in the Isfahan Derby.
French striker Aboubakar Kamara and Javad Aqaeipour found the net either side of a Sobhan Khaqani’s equalizer for the visiting side, before Reza Asadi and Mahdi Limouchi scored a couple of late goals to seal an emphatic triumph for Sepahan at the Naqsh-e Jahan Stadium.
Meanwhile, Esteghlal – fresh from progress to the knockout phase in the Asian elite clubs’ competition – defeated relegation struggler Nassaji Mazandaran 1-0 at the Azadi Stadium.
Alireza Koushki, who stole the show with a goal and an assist in a 2-0 win against Al Rayyan last time out, built on the performance to head home the decisive goal in the 56th minute – five minutes after Blues captain and goalkeeper Seyyed Hossein Hosseini had kept out Mo Eisa’s spot-kick.
Esteghlal moved up to seventh with 26 points, with Nassaji remaining second from bottom with 16 points.
In Ahvaz, Mohammad Nemati, Mohammadreza Soleimani, and Ali-Asghar A’arabi were on the scoresheet as Foolad Khuzestan defeated Havadar 3-0 on Friday.
Foolad sits fourth in the table – equal on points with Persepolis – while a 12th defeat of the campaign kept Havadar rock bottom with 12 points.
Malavan FC walked away with a 1-0 victory at Shams Azar on Friday – courtesy of a Qaem Eslamikhah’s 50th-minute spot-kick – to end a nine-game winless streak in the league.
On Thursday, Golgohar Sirjan was held to a goalless draw at home by Mes Rafsanjan, while goals from Ali Khodadai, Victor Matheus, and Hadi Habibinejad led Chadormalou to an impressive 3-0 victory over Esteghlal Khuzestan.