Pas, Sepahan to Meet in FA Final

MehrNews – Pas and Sepahan won their first matches in the four-sided tournament of Iran’s Football Association here Wednesday, fighting in the final on Aug. 22.
In the opening game, Pas of Tehran beat the UAE’s Al Wasl 1-0 in the 100,000-seater Azadi Stadium, 10km west of Tehran.

Abbas Aqaei grabbed the winner for Pas two minutes into the second half when he headed home a cross in the goalmouth.

Ali Khosravi refereed the match.

Sepahan, the second Iran Pro League champion, and Tehran’s Esteqlal played the second match in front of some 7,000 fans.

Sepahan’s new signing Rassoul Khatibi stunned the blues as he celebrated his goal in the first minute.

Esteqlal secured the parity when Fabrisio -- imported from Brazil – dribbled past Sepahan goalkeeper and patted the ball in twenty-three minutes later.

Ten minutes from the break, Esteqlal took the lead when Mohammad Navazi playing on the right flank converted a penalty. Referee Hossein Yadi showed the spot after Alireza Vahedi-Nikbakht was brought down in the area.

Rassoul Khatibi scored his second and Sepahan’s equalizer in the 60th minute and the Armenian skipper of the Isfahani side scored cold water on Esteqlal camp 13 minutes later when he scored from the penalty spot, giving the yellows a 3-2 victory.

Moharram Navidkia, Player of Second Iran Pro League, missed a penalty in the last moment of the match.

Esteqlal and Al Wasl will array their players in the third-place playoff at 15:30 on August 22 and Pas-Sepahan fight for the trophy will kick off at 17:30.