Esteghlal Closer to Top of Table After Victory Over Ali Daei's Students

In the ninth week of the Iranian Premier League, Esteghlal defeated Saipa 2-1 in an exciting and opportunity-filled match. With this victory, Esteghlal moved closer to the top of the table, now sitting in fifth place with fourteen points. Padideh Mashhad leads with twenty points. In the previous week’s matches, Esteghlal drew against Persepolis, while Saipa drew with Nassaji. The match against Ali Daei's students took place at Takhti Stadium in Tehran, where Saipa quickly took the lead. Ali Dashti scored one of the league's most beautiful goals in the sixth minute, evading Daneshgar and Karimi before firing a powerful shot into the top corner of Esteghlal's goal. Esteghlal launched extensive attacks to equalize and managed to score in the first half. Defender Mohammad Daneshgar succeeded in scoring from close range, overcoming Mohammad Amin Monadi. In the first half, Esteghlal hit the woodwork three times, and both teams went into the locker room tied. In the second half, both teams had opportunities, but in the 81st minute, Esteghlal turned a defeat into victory. Eighteen-year-old Seyed Mohammad Sayyadmanesh, who had a great day, earned a penalty for his team, which Voria Ghafouri converted despite the Saipa goalkeeper's movement. In Esteghlal's lineup, Hossein Hosseini, who had announced his departure last week but then regretted it, stood in goal for the first time this season. Other starting players included Pejman Montazeri, Armin Sohrabian, Voria Ghafouri, Mohammad Daneshgar, Ali Karimi, Farshid Bagheri, Tareq Hamam, Mehdi Qaidari, Morteza Tabatabai, and Allahyar Sayyadmanesh. Sayyadmanesh was injured after the penalty was awarded and had to leave the field, replaced by Alhaji Gero. In the 93rd minute, Saipa had a chance to equalize and created a dangerous opportunity, but Hossein Hosseini made a spectacular save to prevent the points from being shared. Ali Daei stated in the press conference that they conceded the equalizing goal due to a childish mistake. After the first goal, the refereeing changed, and several scenes passed without yellow cards for them, allowing Esteghlal to play comfortably. Hamam should have been sent off. The Saipa coach emphasized, 'When the referee awarded the penalty, the fourth official told me that the referee said it was a handball. After the game, in coordination with the referee observer, they changed their statement and said a foul occurred. Conscience is the greatest court for all of us.' Bijan Taheri, Esteghlal's coach, told reporters that their young players are improving week by week. Sayyadmanesh is very young, and they work on finishing after practice every day. Rest assured, Esteghlal will have a complete striker in the future. Taheri also mentioned Esteghlal's injured players: 'Farshid Esmaeili is undergoing physiotherapy, and Khosrow Heydari is injured. Roozbeh Cheshmi was also injured in the match against Bolivia. The severity of Sayyadmanesh's injury will be determined after tests.' In other matches this week that have concluded, on Thursday, Padideh, the league leader, won against Foolad Khuzestan with two goals. In Saturday's matches, Machine Sazi Tabriz and Naft Masjed Soleyman drew 1-1. The match between Sepidrood Rasht and Zob Ahan Isfahan ended goalless.