AFC - A hat-trick by Siavash Akbarpour and a brace by Arash Borhani helped Esteghlal thrash Payam 5-0 and climb to the second spot in the Iran League standings after 17 rounds recently.
Zob Ahan, who were held 2-2 by former champions Foolad, are leading the table with 33 points, two more than Esteghlal while Peykan slipped to third following their 1-1 draw with Mes.
Akbarpour opened the scoring for the popular Tehran outfit six minutes before the breather and doubled the advantage in the 44th minute. Borhani scored first of his two goals seven minutes past the hour mark while Akbarpour completed his hat-trick nine minutes later. Borhani sealed the fate of Payam with a 85th minute strike.
Esmail Farhadi scored both the goals for Zob Ahan in the 57th and 63rd minutes while Sajad Feizollahi (3) and Mohammad Ghazi Najafabadi (87) were on target for Foolad.
Ruhollah Bigdeli’s opener for Mes in the 33rd minute was cancelled out by Seyed Mehdi Seyed Salehi in the 53rd minute.
In other matches, defending champions Persepolis defeated Rah Ahan 2-1, Saba Battery downed Saipa 2-0, Esteghlal Ahvaz overcame Bargh 1-0, Moghavemat sidelined Sepahan 1-0, Damash outclassed Pas 1-0 and Abu Moslem played a 2-2 draw with Malavan.
STANDINGS: 1. Zob Ahan 33, 2. Esteghlal 31, 3. Peykan 30, 4. Persepolis 29, 5. Sepahan 27.
