The Tehran Derby: Facts and Statistics

Mehr News – TEHRAN, After 47 years of rivalry and 79 derbies, now Persepolis and Esteqlal seek to find a win in spring, where 18 derbies have been played.

Persepolis seeks its first win this month, and Esteqlal will seek to continue its upper hand in the spring derbies in the history of the rivalry. In spring derbies, Esteqlal has won 7 matches; Persepolis has won 3 matches, with 7 other matches drawn. In 17 matches, Esteqlal has scored 17 and Persepolis 13 goals. The 80th derby will be the fourth match played in May, which has proven to be a good omen for Esteqlal, where they have enjoyed a 3-0 and 3-1 win against Persepolis, with the third match being a goalless draw.

The last derby played in May traces back 13 years ago, which did not produce a winner. The first ever derby was played on April 5th, 1968 and ended in a goalless draw. In all the 79 derbies played, Esteqlal leads with 24 wins against Persepolis’ 19 wins, with 36 matches being drawn. Esteqlal is just behind in goal count with 73 goals vs. Persepolis’ 76 goals.

The most recent derby was played on November 24th 2014 when Persepolis came from behind with a 2-1 win. The latest blues win was recorded no less than 41 months ago on December 9th, 2011 when Esteqlal enjoyed a 3-0 win.

Homayoun Behzadi and Imon Zayed are the only players to achieve hat-tricks in all derbies; Isa Traore was the first foreign player to score a goal as well. Safar Iranpak (7 goals, Persepolis), Hossein Kalani (6 goals, Persepolis), and Mehdi Hasheminasab (5 goals; 4 for Persepolis and a single goal for Esteqlal) are the records set in individual goal scoring in all derbies. Darioush Mostafavi was the first player to play for both the blues and reds; Gholamreza Fathabadi, Shahroukh Bayani, and Mehdi Hasheminasab had played and scored for both the blues and reds. Hasheminasab scored four times for Persepolis and once for Esteqlal; Fathabadi scored twice for Persepolis and once for Esteqlal; and Bayani scored twice for Esteqlal and once for Persepolis.

A 6-0 win for Persepolis was and is the largest margin of victory against Esteqlal, achieved on September 7th, 1973. 3 matches remained unfinished (the 4th, 6th, and 36th derbies), which were all announced 3-0 wins for Esteqlal by the Football Federation. Only once in the history of the derby did the result end by penalty shootouts on March 10th, 1989 where Persepolis defeated the blues 4-2.

The fastest goal scored was by Ali Samereh just before the 1st minute of the match in 53rd derby. Hossein Kalani scored the fastest goal for Persepolis, however he did the feat in the 2nd minute of the match. The latest goal was scored by Maziar Zare in the 90+4th minute of the 66th derby for Persepolis. Esmail Sharifat opened the scoring for Esteqlal in 107th minute of the 73rd derby, a match in Knockout Cup of Iran which was the latest goal scored proper.

The first derby referee was Abdolreza Mozoun, with Pakistani Bahador Khan being the first foreign referee of the derbies. The first goal was scored by Ahmad Monshizadeh in 8th minute of the third derby. Kambiz Jamali of Esteqlal and Homayoun Behzadi had been the first captains of the blues and reds respectively. The first red card was received by Reza Vatankhah of Persepolis on the third derby. Ali Parvin has the most matches played in the derby with 20 matches. Alireza Nikbakht Vahedi comes second with 19 matches and Afshin Peirovani (Persepolis) is the third record holder with 18 matches.

Mahdi Mahdavikia and Ahmadreza Abedzadeh are the most famous players to never have suffered a defeat in the derbies; Amir Qale Noei of Esteqlal was a third to enjoy the occasion, when the last derby defeat disqualified him of the record.