SAIPA stuns Esteqlal

IRNA - SAIPA stunned Esteqlal of Tehran Thursday as it managed to defeat the blues here in the ninth week of Iran Pro League (IPL).
Playing on the uneven pitch of Takhti Stadium, south of Tehran, SAIPA struck twice to win the match 2-1, imposing the third loss on Esteqlal.
The first half was not appealing and the two Tehrani sides failed to find the back of the net but they played a better football in the second time. In the 46th minute, Esteqlal midfielder Alireza Mansourian fired a goal-bound shot, forcing diving SAIPA goalkeeper Behzad Gholampour to send the ball above his woodwork.
One minute later, Mohammad Mo'meni put SAIPA ahead as his shot kissed the net of error-prone Esteqlal goalie Parviz Boroumand. The situation was aggravated for the blue-clad Esteqlal in the 77th minute when SAIPA skipper Mohammad Soltani unleashed an unstoppable shot that touched the top left corner of Boroumand's net, making it two-nil.
Nine minutes from the normal time, Esteqlal minimized the gap. Yadollah Akbari converted a penalty. Esteqlal missed some scoring chances in the last moments of the match and lost three badly-needed points.
Sepahan of Isfahan is still the leader of second Iran Pro League with 22 points that is pursued by Esteqlal archrival, Persepolis, with 17 points. Both SAIPA and Esteqlal of Tehran have so far collected 14 points.
Other 9th-week matches are played as follows. Host teams come first.
FRIDAY, DEC 27
* Persepolis vs San'at Naft
Venue: Takhti Stadium
Ref: Fereydoun Esfahanian
Linesmen: Javad Taqipour & Nader Ja'fari
* Paykan vs Malavan
Venue: Iran Khodro Stadium
Ref: Mohsen Torki
Linesmen: Reza Sokhandan & Hassan Karbas-Foroush
* Esteqlal of Ahvaz vs Pas
Venue: Takhti Stadium
Ref: Hossein-Ali Yadi
Linesmen: Sohrab Saei & Nasser Bakhtiari
* Zob Ahan vs Sepahan
Venue: Fouladshahr Stadium
Ref: Rahim Rahimi-Moqaddam
Linesmen: Mohammad Pirouzram & Ebrahim Pourfaraji
* Barq vs Foulad
Venue: Hafezieh Stadium
Ref: Hossein Arab-Boraqi
Linesmen: Masoud Fallah & Rassoul Foroughi
* Abu Moslem vs Fajr-e Sepassi
Venue: Takhti Stadium
Ref: Siamak Bakhshi
Linesmen: Hossein Mo'tamedifar & Jalil Khorramabadi