|
IRNA - Persepolis was held by
the Khuzestani side, Foulad, on Thursday in the 13th week of second Iran Pro
League (IPL), commemorating late Karim Nayyerlou. On the pitch of Takhti
Stadium, south of Tehran, the two sides fought to a 3-3 draw.
Persepolis fell behind 3-2 in the first half. Former striker of Persepolis,
Behnam Seraj, put visitor Foulad ahead in the 5th minute as he sent an Ali
Badavi pass above the hands of the reds' goalkeeper Davoud Fanaei.
Hossein Ka'bi made it 2-0 nine minutes later. This time Seraj provided Ka'bi
a scoring opportunity and the young Ka'bi patted in nonchalantly.
Persepolis defender Ali Ansarian reduced the gap as he converted a penalty
on 21 minutes. In the 26th minute, the reds and their fans were stunned as
Seraj scored his second and team's third from the kick-spot.
Defender Ali Ansarian was judged by referee Ali Khosravi to have tripped
Ka'bi in the area.
The reds' back Yahya Golmohammadi slotted home as his volley found the net
of national keeper Ebrahim Mirzapour in the 34th minute. In the second half,
Persepolis made attacks on the woodwork of Foulad and it succeeded in
securing the parity by striker Payan Ra'fat, who fired home a Reza Jabbari
pass on 51 minutes.
The reds' fourth came by playmaker Jabbari in the 58th minute but it was
unrolled by the referee as offside.
Foulad, too, missed a scoring chance in the 76th minute as Seraj shootout
was denied by the post. Persepolis left winger Behrouz Rahbarifar tripped
Ka'bi inn the box.
Before the penalty, judge Khosravi had red-carded Foulad Head Coach Vingo
Begovic.
In the second-legged matches of the league, Foulad will meet Esteqlal of
Ahvaz on Wednesday, February 12, and Persepolis is to host the Shiraz-based
Barq on Friday, February 14. Winning 23 points, Persepolis is at the second
place following the leader Sepahan that has collected 31 points and Foulad
is the ninth-placed team with 17 points. Linesmen Esmaeil Safiri and Morteza
Karimi helped Khosravi judge the match.
*Relegation-threatened Malavan and Esteqlal tie
The two bottom-placed sides, Bandar Anzali's malavan and Esteqlal of Ahvaz,
tied nil-nil here on Friday in the
13th week of second Iran Pro League (IPL) commemorating late Karim Nayyerlou.
In front of over 7,000 spectators in Takhti Stadium of Ahvaz, Malavan and
Esteqlal failed to score in the normal time. Malavan is at the 14th place of
IPL table with 9 points and Esteqlal of Ahvaz is the 13th-placed team,
winning 11 points.
Referee Mahmoud Rafiei and his two linesmen Akbar Kiani and Nasser Bakhtiari
judged the match.
*Zob
Ahan hammers Barq
In the 13th week of second Iran Pro League (IPL) commemorating late Karim
Nayyerlou, the Isfahani host Zob Ahan saw off Barq of Shiraz with a bitter
rout on Friday.
Zob struck twice in each half to hand the visitor Barq a 4-0 humiliating
defeat.
Armenian player of Zob Varadat Avanessian opened the scoring in the 17th
minute and Amir Vaziri forced Barq to take the ball out of the net three
minutes later.
The situation was aggravated for the Shirazi side as Reza Sahebi slotted
home after five minutes into second half and Amir Tahmasbi completed Barq
rout as he found the back of the net in the 86th minute.
Assisted by two linesmen Jahangir Heidari and Alireza Kahouri, referee
Mansour Mohammadi judged the derby.
Out of 13 matches, Zob Ahan has collected 18 points standing 8th in the
table and Barq is at the 10 place with 14 points. Winning 31 points, Sepahan
of Isfahan is spearheading the league.
Before the match, the spectators observed a minute of silence to pay homage
to former head of the Isfahan branch of IRNA office, Hamid-Reza Nasri, who
was killed in an accident on Wednesday.
*Abu
Moslem-Naft match end in goalless draw
Abu Moslem of Khorassan and Abadan's San'at Naft struggled to a goalless
draw here on Friday.
Playing a 13th-week match of the second Iran Pro League (IPL) commemorating
late Karim Nayyerlou on the field of Takhti Stadium of Mashhad, Abu Moslem
was held by visitor Naft before more than three thousand spectators.
Davoud Seyed Abbassi and Raf'at Qoliov were booked by referee Farajollah
Yasrebi, who was assisted by linesmen Karim Sistani and Heidar Shakour.
Abu Moslem, once giant-killer, has been demoted and is now at the 12th place
of IPL table with 11 points and Naft has just one more point, standing 11th
in table.
The Isfahan-based leader of the league, Sepahan, has won 31 points out of 13
matches. |
