Persian Gulf Pro League:
Drozdek hits hat-trick as Tractor gets off the mark with Iralco rout
Tractor striker Domagoj Drozdek scored a first-half hat-trick as the defending champion hammered Iralco 4-1 at home on Friday to record its victory of the new Persian Gulf Pro League season.
The Croatian kept his composure to lob goalkeeper Mohammad Khalifeh after being released behind the Iralco backline by Danial Esmaeilifar in the ninth minute. He then doubled Tractor’s lead 10 minutes later by slotting home Mahdi Torabi’s low cross into the six-yard box.
Drozdek’s third of the afternoon at the Bonyan Disel Stadium came in the 41st minute, when he tapped in Mahdi Hashemnejad’s cross on the far post.
Behrouz Nowruzifard pulled one back for the visitors with right before the interval, but Albanian summer signing Regi Lushkja restored Tractor’s three-goal cushion in the 62nd minute, rounding off a well-worked counter-attack.
The victory was a morale-boosting result for Tractor, which had been beaten at home by Esteghlal (1-0) on the opening day of the campaign before playing to goalless stalemate away to Mes Rafsanjan, ahead of the club’s first game at the new AFC Champions League Elite season against Shabab Al Ahli on Tuesday.
However, Croatian head coach Dragan Skocic was dealt a massive blow after integral winger Torabi left the pitch with an injury at halftime and will be a major doubt for the Dubai visit.
Elsewhere, Esteghlal suffered a first defeat of the season, falling to a 1-0 loss against Esteghlal Khuzestan in Ahvaz.
Spanish goalkeeper Antonio Adán kept out a Hamid Bouhamdan’s long-range free kick, but Mohammad Sharifi found the net on the rebound in the 34th minute, as Esteghlal Khuzestan came out on top against the Tehran Blues at home for a second consecutive season.
Both sides finished the game with 10 men after Bouhamdan received his marching orders for a second bookable offense in the 78th minute, while Iran international fullback Ramin Rezaeian was shown a straight red for headbutting in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Stellar summer signing Munir El Haddadi, introduced as an 86th-minute substitute, came close to finding an equalizer for the visiting side with his first touch of the ball, only to see his effort from outside the box come off the bar.
Meanwhile, Khaybar and newly-promoted Fajr Sepasi remained unbeaten in their impressive start to the season, sharing the points in a 1-1 draw at Khorramabad’s Takhti Stadium.
Farshid Esmaeili put Fajr in front with a composed finish in the 29th minute, before Ehsan Hosseini drew the home side level on the hour mark.
Sepahan missed out on a first win of the season after a 1-1 away draw against Golgohar Sirjan.
Former Esteghlal midfielder Omid Hamedifar’s effort from the edge of the box went in off Sepahan center-back Mohammad-Amin Hazbavi’s leg to give Golgohar the lead inside 12 minutes.
Golgohar midfielder Alireza Alizadeh was sent off midway through the first half with two bookings inside four minutes, but the home side thought still managed to find a second goal through Reza Ja’fari in the 43rd minute, only to see it chalked off by the VAR for a foul on a Sepahan player in the buildup to the strike.
French signing Enzo Crivelli opened his account for Sepahan by converting a VAR-awarded penalty in the 60th minute, as Moharram Navidkia’s team, which had Omid Nourafkan dismissed with 18 minutes remaining, avoided a second successive defeat following a home setback against Persepolis before the international break.