Persepolis Ends Title-Winning Year: AFC
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iranian heavyweight Persepolis ended a title-winning year by making significant steps on two fronts.
Defending league champion Persepolis finished the decade in memorable fashion, advancing to the semi-finals of Hazfi Cup last Monday before leapfrogging Sepahan into top spot of the Iran Pro League on Friday.
The Tehran giant beat Shahrdari Mahshahr in the Cup semi-final, with Ali Alipour scoring both goals in a 2-0 win, then defeated Nasaji Mazandaran 1-0 in the league four days later despite playing the final 30 minutes with 10 men after the sending off of Mohsen Rabikhah.
The latter result took Gabriel Claderon’s side to 34 points from 16 matches, with Sepahan’s 4-2 defeat away to Sanat Naft Abadan – their first all season in league competition – creating a three-point gap at the top of the pile, the-afc reported.
Sepahan’s New Year’s Eve clash against Sanat Naft gives the Isfahan-based club the chance to end 2019 as league leaders, but it is far from a two-way battle, with Tractor, Sanat Naft, Esteghlal and Shahr Khodro all very much within striking distance with 14 rounds remaining.
