Tehran – The 2015-16 Iranian Pro League has been exciting thus far and it is only going to get more exciting as the season is almost over. Will the top teams finish strong or will one of them slip up and drop points?
In Ahvaz, Esteghlal Khuzestan – the feel good story of the year – defeated visitors Rah Ahan by the score of 3-1. Striker Farshad Janfaza put the hosts in the lead after twenty minutes but three minutes later Majid Hosseini equalized for Rah Ahan.
In the 30th minute, striker Rahim Zohaivi put Esteghlal Khuzestan back in the lead at 2-1. Zohaivi added one more in the 67th minute to give Esteghlal Khuzestan a 3-1 victory.
At the Azadi Stadium, Naft Tehran scored an upset victory over home side Persepolis. Vahid Amiri gave Naft the lead in the 83rd minute and seven minutes later Mojtaba Haghdoust put on the finishing touches to give Naft the 2-0 win.
Esteghlal Tehran earned a hard fought win on the road against Saipa in which all goals were scored in the second half.
Omid Ebrahimi scored from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute to give Esteghlal a 1-0 lead. Twelve minutes later, Ali Gholizadeh equalized for Saipa. With nine minutes remaining, Croatian striker Pero Pejic scored the winning goal to give Esteghlal a 2-1 victory and the valuable three points.
Esteghlal Tehran, Esteghlal Khuzestan, and Persepolis all have fifty-one points at the moment. However, Persepolis are in third due to a plus-thirteen goal difference while Esteghlal Tehran and Esteghlal Khuzestan both have a plus-sixteen goal difference but Esteghlal Tehran holds the tiebreaker due to more goals scored.
The race for the IPL Championship is turning out to be very exciting and the three top teams each have two games left to play.
On 8 May, Esteghlal Tehran will host Tractor Sazi Tabriz, Persepolis will be on the road against Gostaresh Foolad, and Esteghlal Khuzestan will travel to face Padideh FC.