Esteghlal Defeats Machine Sazi Tabriz 3-0 in Snowy Conditions

In the first match of the twentieth week of the Iranian Premier League on Wednesday, Esteghlal managed to defeat Machine Sazi Tabriz 3-0 at the Yadegar Imam Stadium. This result marked Esteghlal's third consecutive victory, allowing them to rise to third place, one point ahead of Zob Ahan Isfahan with one game more played. The match between Machine Sazi and Esteghlal took place under adverse weather conditions, with heavy snowfall completely covering the field and temperatures dropping to minus six degrees, making it difficult for both teams. The sports website Varzesh 3 reported that the intensity of the snowfall made the lines on the field hard to distinguish, and stadium officials had to use a broom instead of a shovel due to a lack of equipment. Ali Ghorbani, Mojtaba Haqdoust, and Omid Noorafkan scored the three goals for the blue-clad team against their bottom-placed opponents. Esteghlal is now preparing for their first Asian match against Al-Sadd of Qatar with good morale. Despite the severe cold and poor conditions in the stands, hundreds of spectators attended the match. Amin Haj Mohammad and Fardin Abedini, former Esteghlal players, along with Payam Sadeghian and Hamidreza Ali Asgar, former Persepolis players, had strong motivations to shine against Esteghlal but could not disrupt the guest team's performance. The head coach of Machine Sazi commented on his team's performance, saying, 'Our silence is a sign of surrender. We had nothing to say, we conceded three goals, were humiliated, and beaten. Except for Sadeghian in the first half and Haj Mohammad, none of our players executed a simple football task.' Farhad Kazemi continued, 'Unfortunately, it seems that the Machine Sazi players do not know where they are playing. It was the worst day of my sports history. We had nothing to talk about or defend regarding the team's performance. If a few players sit out, the situation will improve.' In Esteghlal's lineup were Mehdi Rahmati, Leandro Padovani, Robson, Milad Zakipour, Voria Ghafouri, Omid Ebrahimi, Omid Noorafkan, Behnam Barzai, Khosrow Heydari (Meyad Yazdani), Mojtaba Haqdoust (Farshid Bagheri), and Ali Ghorbani (Mohsen Karimi). Nineteen-year-old Omid Noorafkan had a standout performance again, as he has in recent weeks. He is left-footed and has been one of the most prominent phenomena of this season in the Premier League as a defensive midfielder. Noorafkan provided a beautiful assist from the right to Ali Ghorbani for the first goal and scored the third goal himself. Alireza Mansourian's students allowed only one goal-scoring opportunity to their opponents throughout the 90 minutes. He told reporters, 'We have a tough game against Al-Sadd and must protect Iran's interests. Our players must play against Xavi. I hope we continue like this. We shouldn't dream; we need to think that the success of this team is the future of Iranian football.' In the most important match of the twentieth week of the Iranian Premier League, on Sunday, Persepolis will face Tractor Sazi Tabriz at the Azadi Stadium. Zob Ahan will host Saba Qom on Thursday to reclaim third place from Esteghlal. Paykan and Sepahan, currently in sixth and fifth places, respectively, will also face each other on Thursday.