Tehrantimes - Tractor Sazi football team came from behind to beat Esteghlal 2-1 in the 13th week of Iran Professional League in front of more than 40,000 fans at Tehran’s Azadi stadium on Friday.
Esteghlal took the lead in the 7th minute when Tractor Sazi goalkeeper Mohammad Reza Akhbari made a crucial mistake and gifted the ball to Esteghlal’s Kaveh Rezaei who slotted it into the empty net.
But former Esteghlal striker Farzad Hatami was the hero for Tractor Sazi as he scored twice, sealing comeback and three points.
Hatami first scored in the 56th with a powerful close range header to level the score. Twelve minutes later he scored the second goal from the six yard box to give Tractor Sazi three vital points.
Elsewhere in Mashhad, Persepolis was scheduled to play against Padideh but the game was called off due to bad weather condition. The match will kick off on Saturday 14:00 local time.
In Isfahan, Sepahan, who earned just two points from the last three games, thrashed Saba Qom 4-1 to end the miserable run. Mehrdad Mohammadi (twice), Hossein Papi and Jalaleddin Alimohammadi scored for the host while Ghasem Dehnavi scored the sole goal of Saba from the penalty spot.
In the other games, Paykan edged past Siah Jamegan 1-0 and Foolad beat Esteghlal Khuzestan with the same score thanks to Sasan Ansari.
Earlier on Thursday, Zob Ahan defeated struggling Machine Sazi 2-1, Sanat Naft suffered a 1-0 loss against Saipa at home and Naft Tehran and Gostaresh Foolad match finished a 1-1 draw.
Tractor Sazi is currently at the top with 27 points from 13 games while Persepolis is second with a game in hand.