Week 15 Wrap-Up

 
Homayon Shahrokhi

Day 1:

Pas (Tehran) again proves to be very strong when it comes to big matches, they beat Esteghlal for the second time this season. It seems all of Shahrokhi's (Pas Head Coach) predictions have come true. He said he would beat esteghlal and Perspolis earlier in the season, and his team won both matches. He also promised that his team would win this match, and once again he was right. In this match, Khodadad Azizi created problems for Esteghlal once again, his numerous attacks caught the esteghlal defense off guard and created danger for them. Mohsen Bayatinia and Rasool Khatibi were the goals corers for Pas and Sirous Dinmohamadi scored Esteghlal's goal. This match narrows the gap between other teams and Esteghlal. Perspolis is 1 point behind and Zobahan is 4 points behind them.

The other match of today, was between Peykan and Saipa. Not surprisingly Peykan wins 1-0. Reza Ostovari scored a last-minute goal which gave his team the win, in the 92nd minute. It seems Saipa has lost their momentum and went back on the same track they were for the majority of the season. This is the their second straight loss.

Day 2:

Perspolis wins in another close match, this time against low-ranked Teraktor Sazi (Tabriz). Ismail Helali was the first to open the net, in the 9th minute. This goal, which came from a free kick gave Perspolis a 1-0 lead into halftime. Then in the 70th minute, Reza Aliyari tied up the game for Teraktor Sazi. But it wasn't long until Sohrab Entezari scored yet another game-winning goal, this time in 86th minute.

Another great match that took place, was between Sepahan (Esfehan) and Foolad (Ahvaz). It ended in a 2-2 draw. Sepahan came otu strong with Afshin Hajipour scoring an early goal int he 3rd minute and Mahmood Karimi extending the lead to 2-0 in the 23rd. Then Foolad regained possession and started some attacks. They finally opebned the net in the 42nd, when experienced striker, Behnam Seraj scored a nice goal. Then the game seemed to be going Sepahan's way until Seraj once again striked and scored, this time in the 86th minute to bring one point home for his team.

Zobahan (Esfehan) defeated Bargh (Shiraz) this week 3-1. Amir Vaziri and Jalal Omidian and Salehinejad had great game as they led their team to victory.

Aboo-Moslem (Mashad) wins their second game in a row, this time beating Fajr-Sepasi (Shiraz). Iman Razaghi scored the goal to give Aboo-Moslem a 1-0 victory.

Esteghlal-Rasht and Malavan-Bandar Anzaili tied 1-1 in Bandar Anzali. Esteghlal-Rasht, who started off the season terribly have not lost a game in the last 3 games, and they have conceded only 1 goal.

The league's standings are as shown below:

Team P Pts.

Esteghlal-Tehran 15 30

Pirouzi-Tehran 15 29

Zob-e Ahan-Isfahan 15 26

Sepahan-Isfahan 15 25

Pas-Tehran 15 24

Paykan-Tehran 15 23

Foulad-Khouzestan 15 23

Aboumoslem-Khorasan 15 21

Fajr-e Sepassi-Shiraz 15 17

Bargh-e-Shiraz 15 17

Saipa-Tehran 15 14

Malavan-Anzali 15 13

Esteghlal-Rasht 15 11

Tractor Sazi-Tabriz 15 7

Kambiz M. (with thanks to Arman M. for match reports of Day 1)

Varzeshkar News (www.varzeshkar.com)