In the 23rd round of the Iran Professional League (IPL) and in front of 75,000 spectators, Esteghlal battled back to a 2-2 draw at home to Traktor Sazi.
Mehrdad Pouladi gave the visiting team a lead in the 31st minute. Esteghlal goalie Vahid Taleblu failed to save his long range shot from a 40 meters distance.
Farhad Majidi canceled out Traktor Sazi’s goal just seconds before the halftime. The Esteghlal captain received a pass from Siavash Akbarpour into the penalty area and rolled the ball into the net.
Mostafa Ekrami put Traktor Sazi ahead again four minutes into the second half. Taleblu failed to clear the ball from the six yards zone and the Traktor Sazi striker opened the empty net.
Esteghlal tied once again with Traktor Sazi in the 70th minute. Hanif Omranzadeh’s header revived Esteghlal’s hopes to win the match, but the scoreboard never changed.
Esteghlal stays in fourth place with 34 points behind Sepahan, Zob Ahan and Steel Azin. Traktor Sazi is sixth with 33 points in the IPL standings.