Karimi downs Sepahan, Persepolis lose

Persianfootball.com – TEHRAN, Persepolis suffered their first loss of the season in round 4 of the Persian Gulf League on Sunday, going down 0-1 to Saipa Karaj after a Roozbeh Shahalidoost strike.

Elsewhere Sepahan were downed 0-1 by Tractor Sazi after veteran playmaker Ali Karimi won a controversial penalty kick after one of his trademark dribblings and converted the spotkick with ease.

New table-toppers are Foolad Khuzestan, who defeated Damash Gilan 3-1 on Saturday thanks to Pereira’s brace and young playmaker Bakhtiar Rahmani’s first goal of the season.

Also on Saturday Esteghlal scored a flattering 1-0 win over Saba in Tehran’s Azadi stadium. The sole goal of the game was scored by Mohammad Ghazi, who already scored two goals and assisted two others in four matches for his new club.

IPL round 4 results:
Esteghlal TEH     1 – 0     Saba QOM

Foolad KHU     3 – 1     Damash GLN

Gostaresh TBZ     2 – 0     Fajr Sepasi SHZ

Malavan ANZ     2 – 1     Esteghlal KHU

Mes KRM     0 – 0     Zobahan ESF

Naft TEH     2 – 1     Rahahan RAY

Saipa ALB     1 – 0     Perspolis TEH

Sepahan ESF     0 – 1     Teraktor TBZ