Tehran Times - Esteghlal football coach Alireza Mansourian says that he is proud of his youngster players after beating arch rivals Persepolis in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium.
Esteghlal defeated Iran Professional League leader Persepolis 3-2 to keep alive their title hopes.
“It was a great match with a great result. I cannot hide my happiness and this victory belongs to our young players,” Mansourian said in the post-match news conference.
“I congratulate our players and our fans who supported us from the first day of the competition. I am so happy because of making them happy,” he added.
“We defeated Al Sadd of Qatar in the AFC Champions League play-off after 120 minutes on Tuesday and our players were very exhausted. To score three goals against Persepolis at the Azadi Stadium is not an easy job but we did that,” Esteghlal coach stated.
Persepolis pulled a goal back in the last minutes of the match but the TV replays showed that Persepolis player fouled inside the penalty area.
“I believe that the goal should have been disallowed because Persepolis’s player fouled on our player,” Mansourian concluded.