Shock results of week 20

By: Majeed Panahi

Esteghlal of Tehran continued their abysmal performance for the third week running when they could only pick up a point in Shiraz Hafiziyah Stadium after their goal-less draw against Fajr Sepasy on Tuesday.

The lackluster match failed to produce a gaosl in ninety minutes and while Esteghlal had the better control of the game, thie weak midfield and even weaker forward line could not finish the match to their advantage despite several good opportunities for scoring. Momenzadeh , Deenmohammady and in particular Ali Mousavi were guilty of some glaring misses.

Two points dropped in Shiraz was the ideal setting for Perspolis as a win against the other Shirazi team in Azadi would have given them the lead in the IPL table; however, Bargh Shiraz had other ideas.

Under the coaching of Asghar Sharafi and continuing their recent revival, Bargh defeated Perspolis by a solitary goal, and was certainly the better of the two team on the day in front of 10,000 Perspolis fans in Azadi.

To make matter worse, Ali Ansarian was given a red-card after his second bookable offence. The irony of Ansarian’s dismissal is that on both occasions he was booked for retaliation against the opposition player.

The other winners of this stage were Abo Moslem , who are having a late run of good results and finally translating their good team performances into results. Abo Moslem beat Paykan 3-1.

Foolad Khuzestan , the team that has contniousely showed good form with their star studed players have faltered in this week matches.  Pas managed to take revenge and beat them away 2-1 and secure third spot while Foolad dropped to fifth just behind ZSob Ahan who is fourth after loosing to Saipa in Tehran 2-1.

The other shock result of the week came in Esfahan, where once powerful Sepahan fell victim to the emerging Malavan Bandar Anzali. Sepahan who started this season with a formidable defensive record went down 1-0, while Malavan continued the good form after their last weeks draw with Perspolis in Anzali.

The battle of the two boortom teams, Esteghlal Rasht and Tractorsazi ended 2-0 for Rasht.