Tehran Times - Persepolis football team moved back to the top of Iran Professional League (IPL) table with a 2-0 win over Saipa on Tuesday.
In the match held in Tehran’s Takhti Stadium, Saipa defender Mohammadhossein Kananizadegan opened the own goal in the 20th minute. Ali Alipour made scoreboard 2-0 five minutes later.
“First of all, I would like to thank our fans for their great support. We earned an important victory over Saipa. I think Persepolis deserved to win the match,” Branko Ivankovic said in the post-match news conference.
“We were under pressure after AFC Champions League’s elimination and narrow victory over Esteghlal in Tehran derby. The win eased pressure on us,” the Croat added.
Esteghlal also defeated Naft Tehran in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium.
Farid Mohammadizadeh scored an own goal in the 55th goal and Jaber Ansari extended Esteghlal’s lead 10 minutes later.
Elsewhere, Paykan earned a late victory over Sepahan in Isfahan and moved up to second place.
Padideh drew 2-2 with Foolad and Tractor Sazi and Zob Ahan played out a goalless draw.
Persepolis returned to top of the table with 23 points. Paykan are on equal points though with an inferior goal difference.