Shootouts send Saba, Abu Moslem into League Cup final

IRNA - Saba Battery and Abu Moslem will fight in the League Cup final as the two sides won Friday's semifinals on penalties.

Saba fought back to beat the visitor Esteqlal of Ahvaz in Shahid Derakhshan Stadium 10-9 in penalty shootouts after the two teams struggled to a 4-4 draw in normal and extra time.

The visitor's nimble midfielder Amir Khalifeh-Asl took the lead five minutes after the kickoff, which was responded by Robert Marcusi on 29 minutes.

But Esteqlal donning the traditional blue shirts threw down the gauntlet with two goals Abdolvahab Abolheyl and Mehrzad Rezaei scored eight minutes into the additional time before the break and four minutes after the interval.

Not to be outdone, the home team hit three in a nine-minute blitz.

National skipper Ali Daei minimized the gap with his trademark penalty kick in the 65th minute, with his teammates Marcusi and Babak Zolrahmi netting on 70 and 74 minutes.

Saba players on the pitch and in the dugout were celebrating their advancement to the final, but their party was gatecrashed by the blue Adriano Always, who secured the parity five minutes deep into the stoppage time.

Shootouts were deciding as the two failed to find the net in the extra time.

The excitement mounted as each side converted all five penalty kicks. Saba emerged victorious as Hamid Ebrahimi's shootout kissed the net and Esteqlal's Navid Khoda-Karam missed the deciding sixth kick.

In other semifinal, Fajr-e Sepassi entertained Abu Moslem in Hafezieh Stadium in the southern capital city Shiraz.

Unlike Saba-Esteqlal game, Fajr and Abu Moslem played a boring football, leaving the fans ruing a goal in 120 minutes.

The Mashhad-based Abu Moslem missed a golden opportunity eight minutes from extra time when frolic scorer Fereydoun Fazli failed to beat keeper Hossein Ashna from the penalty spot.

Referee Iraj Nazari ordered for shootouts to decide the finalist.

The scores were even as Vahid Rezaei and Rahim Khodayari from Fajr and Mojtaba Jabbari and Reza Nassehi from Abu Moslem converted the first two penalties while the Shirazi side's Ali Alizadeh and the visitor's Azizi Frisat did not make it and the remaining two from each squad added the scoring.

Hashem Beikzadeh celebrated Fajr's sixth as Abu Moslem's Vahid Seyed Mohammadlou did, but the visitor had the last laugh when Fazli kept his nerves this time to send the ball past Ashna and Gholam-Reza Rezaei failed.

The two-legged final showdown is slated for July 12 and 15.