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By:
Majeed Panahi
PLDC - Perspolis
excelled in defeating Saipa on Thursday in Azadi stadium in front of
15,000 fans to exert pressure on Esteghlal Tehran for the Championship
crown.
Perspolis started the match with determination and managed to confine the
game in the opposition half. Their control of the game was evident and the
threat started with Kavianpour's Stunning shot which hit the upright and
deflected back.
By the thirtieth minute Perspolis were already leading after Ansarian
scored a penalty for handball against Paykan defender.
Two minutes later Amir Hussain Aslanian score one of the best league goals
so far, when he got the ball on the right flank superbly dribbled two
Saipa player and with a swift move shot a thunderous ball from an angle in
the roof on Saipa's net.
Perspolis were threatening to run riot, until Javad Kazemiyan , the Young
National Team player from Saipa, scored the first goal of his team with
some ease at minute 37 to damp the Red-Devils enthusiasm..
The first half ended 2-1, and by the start of the second, Saipa were more
motivated & had more of the ball. In a counter attack, Mohammed
Soltani scored another marvelous goal for Saipa to eclipse Aslanian
stunner of the first half. Soltani got the ball from a deflection off
Perspolis players just outside the penalty box. He cracked a powerful shot
out of Karimi's reach, high into the net.
Perspolis 2 Saipa 2
Perspolis players and fans were stunned by the loss of the two goal lead.
However, seeing the loss of the championship in front of their eyes
motivated the Perspolis players into action and it all paid off when Ali
Ansarian header was deflected by Saipa defender into an own goal. Shortly
after that Aslanian sealed the match with a neat low header to make it 4-2
for Perspolis.
is was a real delight to watch the fighting spirit of Perspolis team. With
this win against Saipa, the pressure was on Esteghlal.
Aslanian's the scorer of two of Perspolis goals was the star of the match.
The young man has not been part of the regular team this season, but with
such a performance, it is highly likely that Jabbari and Entezari have to
fight it out to be in the starting line-up next season along side
Aslanian.
In Fridays matches, Paas routed Malvan Anzali with 5 goals, but it was one
victory too late for the Tehrani team that started the campaign with so
much promise and talent. The interesting event of the match was nobody but
the now-so-familiar Rasoul Khatibi.
Khatibi was fired from the team, after the fiasco of last week including
disobeying the orders of the coach in taking a penalty ( which he missed)
, then bad mouthing the coach in the media. However his dismissal which
was publicly announced by the team in the newspapers, did not last long
!!!! A few days later he turns up for training with a bunch of flowers ,
and as if nothing have happened, continues with training.
He was immediately drafted in & played against Malavan, and...yet
again he took a penalty and missed his fourth penalty in a row.!!!!!!
To save his blushes Janmalki scored from the rebound off the penalty.
Other goals were scored by Khodadad Azizi (2), Javad Nekounam and
Hedayati.
This left the late match of the week between Esteghlal & Payakn as the
most important one of the week. A good crowd of around 25,000 fans turned
up to support Esteghlal in this important derby clash.
Esteghlal scored a goal in the 17th minute from Fraz Fatemi's header while
controlling the pace and tempo of the game. Paykan on the other hand
threatened several times and if it was not for the superb saves of
Tabatabaei, the result could have been so different.
Akbarpour and Deenmohammady along with Tabatabaei were their best players
while Saeed Lotfi, showed once again why Team Melli coaches are so
impressed with him.
With this result, Esteghlal need a solitary point against Malavan to
capture the first IPL championship, while Perspolis must win to keep their
hopes alive. Paas is out of the championship running.
The rest of the weeks result did not have much effect on the championship.
The other notable event was Gholam Reza Enayati's goal in a 2-1 win for
Abo Moslem against Zob Ahan in Esfahan, which increased his tally to 10
goals leading the top scorers chart.
The fans are now eagerly anticipating the final week matches. Although
Esteghlal is the top bet for winning the league, but any slip by them will
be surely capitalized on by the fighting Perspolis players.
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