Sports > Football > TEHRAN DERBY ENDS IN DRAW, KHODADAD AZIZI DISGRACED BY AFSHIN DASTAFSHAN
Sepahan's Unbeaten Run Comes To End
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Week 9 of Persian Gulf League (PGL) concluded with the much awaited Tehran derby between Persepolis and Esteghlal (formerly Taaj) ending in a draw and Sepahan losing their first match of the season.
Persepolis took on Esteghlal in the 63rd Tehran derby between the two sides, as ever the two sides started the match cautiously with emphasis on avoiding defeat in front of 90,000 red and blue fans at Azadi stadium, consequently the fans had to put up with an uneventful 45 minutes, but all that changed in the second half. The match referees were from Spain (Gonzales, Palmar & Alfonso); no Iranian referee is trusted to be impartial in the Tehran derby hence using foreign referees for Persepolis Esteghlal encounters.
Esteghlal coached by former Team Melli hero Nasser Hejazi were lying in 12th place in PGL at the start of the match, they were more desperate for the 3 points and went on the attack in the second half. Persepolis led by Afshin Ghotbi were sitting at the top of the table and seemed more content and handed the initiative to their archrivals in the second half. Esteghlal pressure finally paid off when a long range Ravankhah shot caught Persepolis keeper off guard and the blue side of Tehran took the lead. An end to end game followed with Persepolis trying hard to get back in the match and Esteghlal looking for a second goal, as the game progressed Esteghlal found themselves on the defence and seemed willing to settle for a 1-0 win. Persepolis pressure resulted in an equaliser 7 minutes from time when Khalili scored for the reds, this was Khalili’s 7th goal of he season, he is now the top league scorer followed by Karimi of Sepahan on 6 goals. The match ended 1-1, Persepolis remain unbeaten this season and top the table on 21 points, Esteghlal on 10 points are in 11th place.
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Sepahan drop to 3rd place after losing to Esteghlal of Ahvaz 3-2, this defeat might actually do Sepahan more good than harm as they prepare to play Al Wahda of UAE in the Asian Champions League on October 24th, lessons will have been learnt from this defeat that could be put in good use against Al Wahda. Saba Battery and Malavan in second and fourth places respectively settled for a 1-1 draw and failed to gain ground on Persepolis at the top of the table.
In Hamedan Paas FC defeated Abumoslem of Khorasan 3-0 but the highlight of the match was a brawl between Abumoslem head coach Khodadad Azizi and club director Mr Shafagh. Abumoslem trailing Paas 1-0 with ten minutes to go found themselves 2-0 down after an unfortunate own goal by Javad Razaghi, what followed was a reminder of Azizi’s lack of professionalism which ruined his football career as a player. Head Coach Azizi decided to remove Razaghi from the pitch as punishment for the own goal! However, Abumoslem had already used all their 3 substitutions which meant Razaghi could not be replaced by another player, Abumoslem therefore played the last 10 minutes of the match with 10 players and conceded a third goal in the final minute. This led to a brawl between Azizi and Mr Shafagh; I would hate to think how Javad Razaghi felt when Azizi took him off in such humiliating manner. This was a truly sad day for PGL, perhaps Iranian clubs will now think twice about hiring former players as head coaches before they have gained professional FIFA Coaching A Certificate and have shown certain level of professionalism and competence as assistant coaches first.
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