Persian Gulf Pro League:
Tractor ends goal drought with Mes rout
Tractor ended a three-game scoring drought in the Persian Gulf Pro League by hammering Mes Rafsanjan 4-1 at home on Thursday.
The defending champion, which had last found the net in a 2-1 win against Paykan on December 14, took the lead through league top scorer Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh. He netted his ninth goal of the campaign with a composed finish 13 minutes into the game at an empty Yadegar-e Imam Stadium.
Dragan Skocic’s men had to wait until the 56th minute for a second goal. Hosseinzadeh’s close-range effort struck the post but bounced off Mes goalkeeper Nima Mirzazad and into the net.
Ahmadreza Zenderuh had a chance to reduce the deficit for the visitors 10 minutes later, only to be denied from the penalty spot by Iranian international keeper Alireza Beiranvand.
Tractor fullback Danial Esmaeilifar extended the lead in the 76th minute, and Croatian striker Domagoj Drozdek added a fourth six minutes from full-time.
Farnam Arab pulled one back for Mojtaba Jabari’s Mes in the 88th minute, but it proved too little, too late. The victory lifted Tractor to second in the table with 29 points ahead of Friday’s fixtures, while Mes remained rock-bottom with 11.
Elsewhere, former Esteghlal and Persepolis players impressed on their debuts for new clubs as Malavan and Foolad Khuzestan shared the points in a thrilling 2-2 draw at the Sirous Qayeqran Stadium.
Ehsan Mahrouqi gave Foolad the lead six minutes after the break, slotting home on the rebound after ex-Esteghlal fullback Ramin Rezaeian’s effort was saved by Malavan keeper Farzad Tayyebipour.
An own goal from Argentine striker Gustavo Blanco drew Malavan level in the 73rd minute. The home side was then reduced to 10 men following a VAR-upheld straight red card for Amirreza Afsordeh in the 87th minute.
Malavan still managed to take the lead two minutes later. Substitute Mojtaba Fakhrian, who joined on loan from Persepolis earlier in the month, rounded off a well-worked counter-attack with a sublime curling strike from the edge of the box.
Just when Malavan appeared to be on course for a hard-fought victory, Mohammad Qoreishi headed home Rezaeian’s corner-kick in the fifth minute of stoppage time, allowing Foolad to salvage a point in Hamid Motahari’s first game as head coach.
In other action, Khaybar and Iralco also played to a 2-2 draw in Khorramabad.
Amirhossein Farsi and Mehrdad Qanbari put Khaybar ahead twice, only to see their goals canceled out by goals from the visitors’ Rahman Jafari and Sasan Hosseini, with the second equalizer coming in the 91st minute.