Ghotbi Disappointed With Persepolis Draw

GOAL - Persepolis coach Afshin Ghotbi believes that the Iranian league leaders should have won the Tehran Derby on Sunday against fierce rivals Esteghlal.

The game finished 1-1 with Persepolis coming back from a goal down to earn a point with the league leaders below their usual best.

In the press conference after the game, Ghotbi told reporters: "My players showed a lot of effort and because of that I am happy with their work."

"In games where the outcome is very important, it is natural for teams to play below their normal levels, and instead of using various tactics, the teams look for their opponents to make a mistake. Unfortunately, we committed the first mistake which led to us conceding the first goal."

“After conceding the first goal, we put in a lot of effort to get the equalizer and consequently created many chances and more chances than Esteghlal. However, we were only able to put the ball into the opponent's net once."

Persepolis have taken 21 points from the first nine games and are five points clear at the top of the table.

"We came to win. However, when you play in front 100,000 spectators, your job becomes very difficult."

The former South Korean assistant coach added: "We were better than Esteghlal and we could have left this game as victors, and that is why we are not happy with the result. We promised that we would beat Esteghlal, but we could not fulfill our promise. For this reason, I would like to apologize to our fans."

Ghotbi said: "All over the world, derbies are like this and you usually do not see attractive football. Nonetheless, we tried to play in an organized and tactical way. After Esteghlal's goal, we reacted well to the issues that arose during the match, and we were succesful in getting the equalizer."