Shojaei leads Osasuna to victory [VIDEO]

Persianfootball.com – VALENCIA, Masoud Shojaei returned in style, scoring Osasuna’s late first goal with a stunning shot after great footwork just minutes after coming on in the 2-0 win over Levante in La Liga on Monday.

After Levante dominated most of the game, Shojaei was introduced as second substitute ten minutes from time.

The Iranian, who just had returned to the 18-man roster after being left out from the squad twice following his great game for the Iranian national team against Lebanon, had a nervous start with a bad pass and a concentration slip.

But the Iranian offensive allrounder, who played on the left wing today, shook the shaky start off and almost had an assist when his good chip over the defense found Kike Sola, who failed to convert from close range.

However, three minutes from time Shojaei, who had been sidelined injured for 18-months until last autumn, should turn into the hero.

The 28-year-old got the ball on the left side, dribbled past two defenders and curled the ball perfectly into the upper right corner from just outside the penalty area to make it 1-0.

Four minutes into injury time Kike Sola took full advantage of a turnover and sealed the three points from close range.

The win lifts Osasuna to the 14th position of the table while Levante remain 10th.

Strong Dejagah, unfortunate Ghoochannejhad

Also the other Iranian legionnaires saw league action this weekend.

Ashkan Dejagah showed a very strong performance in Fulham’s 1-0 win over Stoke City and also was involved in the creation of Berbatov’s winning goal.

The rightwinger was lucky though when Mark Schwarzer saved a penalty kick after Dejagah had handled the ball inside the box.

In Belgium, Reza Ghoochannejhad came on as second half substitute in Standard Liege’s goalless draw against Genk on Sunday.

The striker once more showed a pleasing display, but again failed to score is first goal for his new club, despite having another good chance.

Future Iranian international goalkeeper Daniel Davari had little to celebrate in German Bundesliga 2, as 1860 Munich’s 2-1 win ended Braunschweig’s run of twenty games without a loss at home, also on Sunday.

The loss cost Braunschweig the top spot in the table after Hertha Berlin defeated third-placed Kaiserslautern 1-0 but Braunschweig maintained their 12 point gap to Kaiserslautern.

The top two teams will directly be promoted to German Bundesliga while the third placed team will have to go into playoffs.

There was no action for Omid Nazari, Alireza Haghighi and Sardar Azmoun as the winter breaks in Sweden and Russia have not ended yet.

The Iranian duo at Rubin Kazan could celebrate the elimination of Atletico Madrid despite a 0-1 home defeat in UEFA Europa League on Thursday, but unfortunately both weren’t part of the 18-man squad.

Watch Shojaei’s goal from PFDC TV