Persian Gulf Pro League:
Tractor clinches maiden trophy with two games to spare
Tractor routed Shams Azar 4-0 on Friday to secure a first title at the Persian Gulf Pro League with two games to go.
The away victory, coupled with second-placed Sepahan’s 2-1 home defeat against Golgohar Sirjan, saw Tractor extend its lead on top of the table to eight points.
Tractor started right on the front foot at Qazvin’s Sardar Azadegan Stadium, with Croatian striker Domagoj Drozdek putting the visitors in front with just two minutes into the game.
Prolific winger Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh bagged his 11th goal of the season seven minutes later, before Drozdek netted his second of the afternoon on the half-hour mark.
Brazilian Ricardo Alves rounded off the emphatic win with a penalty four minutes from normal time as Tractor took its tally to 64 points.
This was Tractor’s ninth win in 11 league outings since Dragan Skocic’s men were last beaten in the league – against Persepolis (2-0) on January 26 – securing only a third major trophy in the history of the club, following the domestic cup triumphs in 2014 and 2020.
Thousands of Tractor fans poured into the streets of Tabriz after the final whistle and celebrated until the early hours of Saturday after their team ended their long wait for the league crown, following three runner-up finishes since winning promotion back to the top flight in 2009.
In the simultaneous fixture at Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Stadium, Sepahan’s slim hopes for a sixth Pro League crown – first in a decade – were shattered by only a second defeat of the season.
Amirmohammad Razzaqinia’s point-blank header gave Golgohar the lead in the 27th minute. Things went from bad to worse for Sepahan deep into first-half added time, after Iranian international fullback Aria Yousefi was shown a straight red for a harsh challenge on Abolfazl Razzaqpour.
Golgohar skipper Mahdi Tikdari doubled the visitors’ lead in the 70th minute, before Mohammad-Mahdi Mohebbi pulled one back for the home side five minutes later, though it proved too little too late.
Sepahan’s defeat tightened the race for a runner-up finish and a spot in next year’s AFC Champions League Elite, as it came after Persepolis had beaten Mes Rafsanjan 3-0 on the preceding night to close the gap on the second spot to two points.
Ali Alipour bagged a first-half double, with Turkish striker Serdar Dursun also finding the net to give the Tehran Reds, who missed out on the title for only a second time in nine years, something to fight for until the end of the season.
The defeat kept Mes third from bottom in the table, though it still remains on course to start next season in the top-flight league after the two relegation-zone clubs Nassaji Mazandaran and Havadar shared the spoils in a goalless draw in Qaemshahr.
The draw confirmed Havadar’s relegation, with Nassaji five points adrift of safety before Thursday’s visit to Tractor.
Elsewhere, Chadormalou played to a 1-1 draw against fourth-placed Foolad Khuzestan at home, while it finished goalless between Esteghlal Khuzestan and Khaybar in Ahvaz.
Meanwhile, Malavan and Zob Ahan shared the points in a six-goal thriller in Bandar Anzali, and Esteghlal hammered Iralco 5-1 at the Azadi Stadium in Mojtaba Jabbari’s second game as the interim coach on the Blues bench.