Esteqlal overcomes rain and red

MNA – Esteqlal beat old foe Persepolis 1-0 in their rescheduled 59th derby here on a rainy Saturday.
An unmarked striker Gholamreza Enayati scored the sole goal of eagerly awaited Iran Pro League match in the 56th minute to warm the blues’ hearts and silence the faithful reds occupying over 80,000 seats of Azadi Stadium although the date of the game, Friday, the weekend holiday, changed.

Enayati came close to the opener on 11 minutes when his angled kick following a corner dangerously passed the far post.

Persepolis forward Javad Kazemian receiving a superb pass in a swift counterattack nine minutes later cleared skipper Mahmud Fekri but he failed to beat the advancing keeper Vahid Taleblu.

Veteran midfielder-turned-fullback Karim Baqeri and fans breathed a sigh of relief as former national player’s header landed on the roof of Persepolis woodwork on 27 minutes.

Kazemian forced a save from Taleblu with a powerful kick from behind the box six minutes after the break but it was Esteqlal, which opened the scoring.

Out-of-sorts right winger Farzad Majidi escaped an offside trap before feeding Enayati, who found the net from close range.

Mojtaba Jabbari could double the scoring in the 77th minute when he clutched on to a perfect through ball from Enayati but he hit the ball against the slipping keeper Farshid Karimi’s chest.

Esteqlal celebrated the spirit-raising victory as the German referee Wolfgang Stark blew his whistle to declare the end of traditional derby, moving to the third spot of the 16-strong league.