Esteghlal Edges Esteghlal Khuzestan, Persepolis Downs Foolad: IPL
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Esteghlal football team earned a valuable away win against Esteghlal Khuzestan in the 2023-24 Iran Professional League (IPL) on Friday.
Gustavo Blanco scored the only goal of the match in the 41st minute in Ahvaz’s Ghadir Stadium.
Earlier in the day, Persepolis defeated Foolad 4-2 in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. Alireza Beiranvand scored an own goal in the 11th minute but Persepolis' Uzbek winger Oston Urunov scored the equalizer in the 35th minute.
In the 42nd minute, Beiranvand made a blunder again and Abdelkarim Hassan failed to save the goal and was forced to open their own goal.
Issa Alekasir leveled the score in the 54th minute and Persepolis was awarded a penalty in the 68th minute after Foolad defender Mojtaba Najarian committed a handball offence into the area. He was sent off by the referee.
Hossein Kananizadegan converted his penalty from the spot in the 68th minute to make the scoreboard 3-2.
Mehdi Torabi scored the fourth goal for Persepolis in the 74th minute.
In Isfahan, Sepahan lost to Paykan 3-2. It was the team’s fifth loss out of six matches in the IPL.
Shams Azar defeated Aluminum 2-1 in Qazvin and Mes and Tractor shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw in Rafsanjan.
Esteghlal leads the table with 42 points, three points above Persepolis.
