Persepolis's close shave

IranMania- In the Iranian Elimination Cup, Persepolis met Abumoslem of Khorasan at home and the hosts managed to draw 1-1 and thereby win on aggregate. The game, played at Azadi stadium, had 5000 spectators. Abumoslem started the game in better form and challenged the hosts intensely. The goal in the 9th minute scored by Mikalian for Abumoslem gave this game even more excitement. Next it was Perspolis who gained control and made extensive attacks on the opponent's goal area and they nearly scored several times. Abumoslem presented a fast and technical game using the counter attacks engineered by Enayati and Mikaieli to give Persepolis a hard time. The first half of the game finally ended 1-0. The Persepolis attacks went on in the second half, but most of these were well foiled due to the needless haste shown by the team. Persepolis made a few changes in mid second half and from then on their attacks were made with greater pressure. Barzegar replaced Tartar, Aslanian was substituted for Entezari and Halali came in place of Esteeli. Abumoslem gained a penalty in the second half during a counter attack, but the experienced Ramezan Shokri of Abumoslem failed in making this the second goal of his team. It was Fanaei, the goalkeeper, who became the hero of Persepolis by stopping the shot. In the final minutes of the second half, Behrooz Rahbarifard was dismissed from the game with a double yellow card to his name and Persepolis at this time played a ten man game but had the backing of the spectators to their favor. The unceasing cheering and the push provided by the fans, led to the equalizer for the team. The goal resulted from a penalty gained by Persepolis after a foul on Ali Ansarian in the 89th minute , who scored the goal himself. With this draw, Persepolis saved themselves from a second successive loss and the prospect of a tough match against their old enemy, Esteghlal on Friday. Esteghlal must now play Against Pas on Friday, 11th January. The return matches of the tournament have not been announced so far.