Foolad thumped by Esteghlal

ACL – Foolad were dealt a confidence denting 4-1 defeat by Iran league pacesetters Esteghlal on Thursday ahead of the AFC Champions League Group C leaders gear up for next week’s ACL Matchday clash with two-time semi-finalists Pakhtakor.

A league meeting with top-of-the-table Esteghlal would certainly have provided Foolad with the ideal preparation for the tough trip to Tashkent but head coach Nenad Nikolic would not have been expecting the Round 28 match to go so wrongly for the reigning Iran champions, who finished the game with nine men.

Midfielder Mohsen Hamidi was the first Foolad player to see red when he received his marching orders on the half-hour mark before Reza Enayati made Esteghlal’s numerical advantage count on the stroke of half-time.

Despite being a man down, Foolad hit back quickly with 19-year-old midfielder Adel Kolahkaj drawing the Khuzestan side level three minutes after the interval.

However, parity lasted until the 57th minute when Hossein Kazemi restored Esteghlal’s lead before Enayati made it 3-1 with his second of the night ten minutes later.

Foolad were reduced to nine men when forward Lafteh Hamidi was sent off seven minutes from the final whistle giving Enayati enough time to complete his hat-trick right at the death.

Meanwhile Pas, quarter-finalists in last year’s AFC Champions League, kept the pressure on Esteghlal with a 3-1 away win over Bargh in Shiraz.

Iran’s other representatives in this year’s ACL Saba Battery host Zob Ahan on Saturday, having played on Wednesday in their Hazfi Cup quarter-final win over Sepahan Novin.