MehrNews- Sepahan lifted the trophy of the
four-sided tournament of Iran’s Football Association here Friday. The
yellow-clad Isfahani side beat Pas 3-1 in Takhti Stadium, southeast of
Tehran.
Sepahan, champion of the second Iran Pro League, opened the scoring in the
53rd minute when Seyed Mahdi Seyed Salehi netted.
Substitute skipper of Sepahan made it 2-0 in the 21st minute. He escaped the
offside trap, dribbled past Pas goalkeeper in a man-to-man challenge and
patted the ball into an empty net.
Pas pulled one back three minutes later when substitute Behnam
Abolqassempour sent a rebound past Sepagan keeper Ershad Youssefi.
The IPL champion celebrated the third four minutes from the normal time.
Morteza Hashemzadeh sent a low cross Bezik was waiting for near the far post
but former defender of Persepolis, Behrouz Rahbarifard, slipped to lead it
into his own net.
Earlier in the third-place playoff, Esteqlal defeated Al Wasl of the United
Arab Emirates 3-2.
Esteqlal took the lead in the 20th minute as Alireza Vahedi-Nikbakht headed
home a Mohammad Navazi corner.
Former striker of Esteqlal and top goalscorer of Al Wasl, Farhad Majidi,
fired an angled shot just inside the penalty area, finding the left corner
net of the blues in the 34th minute.
Nikbakht scored his own and side’s second in the 61st minute, heading home
again a superb cross from Navazi.
The blues hit the third eight minutes later as advancing defender Firouz
Qorbani’s header kissed the net after touching Al Wasl goalkeeper’s
hand.
Al Wasl minimized the gap by its second goal scored by Tareq Dervish, who
headed home a Majidi cross.
