PFDC - KARAJ, Karim Ansarifard scored his 21st goal of the season from the penalty spot in Saipa Karaj's 2-2 draw against Sanat Naft on Friday and thereby secured the first position in the league's goalscoring chart.

Because Sanat Naft's striker Founeke Sy failed to add to his 20 goals, Ansarifard overtook the Malian, who is likely to move to Persepolis Tehran next season, to become the sole topscorer of the 2011/12 Iran Pro League (IPL).

22-year-old Ansarifard scored 20 of his 21 goals out of play, the 34th round goal being the only one from the spot.

Third in the scoring chart is veteran striker Gholamreza Enayati from Saba Qom with 18 goals.

Ansarifard was already tipped to move to Europe after scoring 13 goals in 2009/10, and 19 goals in 2010/11, however, surprisingly extended his contract with Saipa until 2013.

But now the striker - discovered by Iranian football legend Ali Daei - seems ready to fill the shoes of his mentor and making anything but a move to a good European league a major disappointment to Iranian football fans.

Beside his 53 league goals within three seasons, Ansarifard also scored five goals in seven appearances for Iran's U20, five goals in 13 appearances for the Olympic squad and seven goals in 27 matches for Iran's senior national team.