PGL Week 27 Review: Tractor Sazi Remains Top As Esteghlal Falls Behind

PERSIANFOOTBALL.COM – 27^th week of the Persian Gulf Pro League saw little movement in the table but there was a few events and results worth discussing as we analyse the 8 games which took place.

Games Of The Week:

Saipa 2-2 Persepolis

Karaj’s Enghelab Stadium saw an entertaining game between two midtable teams. Persepolis were yet to win a game under the management of Branko Ivankovic and headed into the game without a win in 6 games. Saipa, on the other hand, were laying comfortably at 7^th and came into the game on the back of a late 2-1 defeat to league leaders Tractor Sazi.

Match began with little action to talk of in the early stages. Persepolis were awarded a freekick inside Saipa’s half, Fernando Gabriel’ cross found Ahmad Nourollahi whose glancing header found its way into the corner of the Saipa’ goal to give his team the lead. A few minutes later, on 40^th minute, Fernando’s through ball finds Mahdi Taremi who finishes expertly from inside the box to double Persepolis’s lead and give Saipa a mountain to climb. Persepolis were fully in charge of the game but with a minute until half time, a long throw by Ebrahim Shakouri found Hakim Nasseri whose header was deflected into the net by Persepolis defender, Babak Hatami, to reduce the deficit. Second half started quietly until the hour mark when a cross by Omid Alishah found Mohammad Nouri side footed the ball into the net, only for the referee to disallow the goal because of a supposed handball by the Persepolis captain. Three minutes later, Nouri was in the centre of attention again when his clumsy challenge in the Persepolis area forces the referee to award the home side with a penalty. Hamed Shiri stepped up confidently and sent Makani the wrong way to equalise for Saipa. Final 25 minutes of the game saw both teams trying get the winner but a combination of good goalkeeping and bad finishing kept the scores level as the game ended 2-2.

Persepolis are slowly sliding further down in the table but they remain 10^th for now, only 5 points above the relegation play-off spot. Majid Jalali can be pleased with his team’s performance, Saipa have one of the youngest squads in the league and they showed great character to fight back from 2-0 down and get a point.

Peykan 0-2 Tractor Sazi

Relegation threatened, Peykan, have been in dreadful form in 2015 as their last victory came in October, incidently against today’s opponents, Tractor Sazi. On the other hand, Tractor Sazi are on course to mark a memorable season as they aim to win their first ever league title. Toni Oliveira’s men overtook Naft Tehran at the top of the table last week and they hoped to continue their good run of form away to Peykan.

Tractor started the game on the front foot with intent and took the lead after 7 minutes. It was Edinho’s shot which was blocked and Farshad Ahmadzadeh pounced on the loose ball in the air with an emphatic overhead kick which left Mahdi Rahmati flat footed. Tractor kept on pressing and they created many chances to double their lead. Peykan threatened the Tractor goal for the first time on 53^rd minute as Saeid Daghighi received the ball in the penalty area and took a shot which was handballed by Tractor’ centre back, Khaled Shafiei. Daghighi himself stepped up to take the penalty but saw it saved fantastically by Hamed Lak. Lak, who has faced some criticism for his midweek performance in the AFC Champions League, redeemed himself with this penalty save. Tractor went on to double their lead late in the game as Edinho was fouled for a penalty and then scored it himself to give Tractor a comfortable 2-0 win away from home.

This win leaves Tractor at the top of the table with only 3 games to go and they certainly favour themselves to bring the title to Tabriz ahead of Naft Tehran and other challengers. Peykan, who remain 14^th, should look to the remaining 3 games as 3 cup finals as they face out of form Persepolis before facing Rah Ahan (16^th) and Esteghlal Khuzestan (13^th).

Rest Of The Games:

Amir Ghalenoei’s Esteghlal, who have faced a lot of criticism lately, faced Padideh in Azadi and they played out a 0-0 draw as fans voiced out their concern. Esteghlal are now without a win in 5 games as they lay in 6^th spot with almost no chance of getting a top 3 spot.

One of the title chasers, Sepahan, welcomed Rah Ahan, and they recorded a comfortable 3-0 win with Luciano scoring a brace. Rah Ahan slip to the bottom of the table with 3 points away from safety. Sepahan are 3 points behind leaders Tractor.

In Ahvaz, defending champions Foolad, faced an in-form Zob Ahan. This was a game between two of the teams who played the best football in the league. Over 12,000 fans witnessed Zob Ahan produce another stellar performance as they ran out 2-0 winners with Team Melli striker, Masoud Hassanzadeh, getting one of the goals.

Second placed Naft Tehran hosted Malavan. Mansourian’s men bounced back from last week’s defeat with a 2-0 win which leaves Malavan in more trouble heading into the final 3 games. Young in-form striker Amir Arsalan Motahari scored one of the goals as Naft remain second.

A relegation battle match-up between Esteghlal Khuzestan and Naft Masjed Soleyman ended 0-0 which leaves both teams with a lot to fight for. Naft Masjed Soleyman remain 15^th, 3 points away from safety.

Mid table clash between Saba Qom and Gostaresh Foolad Tabriz also ended 0-0. Gostaresh look comfortable as they keep an eye for results below them. They have a tough game next week against cross city neighbours Tractor Sazi.

Players Of The Week:

Edinho: Tractor Sazi’s Brazilian striker has been fantastic all season as he scored his 18^th goal of the season to help his team record a 2-0 win. His movement and pace has been making trouble for every
defender in the league and he was in the centre of every move in his team’s game against Peykan.

Moharram Navidkia: The Sepahan stalwart has been a consistent performer, putting aside his niggling injuries. His performance against Rah Ahan was fantastic as he kept feeding his team mates, Mahdi Sharifi and Luciano. He was the producer of every attacking move and his killer passes tortured the Rah Ahan defence as the scoreline could have been much larger.

Mohammad Nejadmehdi: Padideh managed to hold off Esteghlal to a 0-0 draw and Nejadmehdi was a star performer in defence. Nejadmehdi is a right back by nature but he played in the centre of defence against Esteghlal and put in a fantastic shift as he frustrated the Blues’ strikers. At only 22, and having already been invited to Team Melli by Carlos Queiroz, he should get more notice with performances like that.