At the 90,000-packed Azadi Stadium, Esteghlal defeated arch rival Persepolis 1-0, overtook them and gained second place in the Iran Professional League rankings.
Esteghlal’s captain Majidi received a through ball from Mojtaba Jabbari in the added time and opened the Persepolis goal from a closed angle.
Mohammad Nouri’s goal for Persepolis in the 7th minute was already rejected by referee Masoud Moradi due to offside, but TV replays showed the goal was alright.
Daei criticized the referee’s performance after the match. “Somebody tell me what happened to our goal? I don’t know why the referee rejected it. We were the better team in the second half but the referee’s judgment was against us,” Daei said.
Esteghlal moved up to the second place of the IPL table with 20 points.
Persepolis is fourth with 18 points.
The leading team is Zob Ahan with 24 points, and Sepahan is third with 19 points.
