Zob Ahan drubs Esteghlal Khuzestan to claim Iran Super Cup title
Iranian football club Zob Ahan has defeated Esteghlal Khuzestan to win Iran’s Super Cup, which is the trophy awarded to the winner of a match between the Persian Gulf Pro League's season champion and the winner of the Hazfi (knockout) Cup.
On Tuesday evening, the title clash at Foolad Shahr Stadium just outside the city of Esfahan, central Iran, saw the hosts beating the Ahvaz-based football club 4-2.
Zob Ahan’s players got off to a decent start, and midfielder Morteza Tabrizi found a marvelous opportunity in the 25th minute to score the opener. He, however, spoiled the chance and screwed his shot wide of goal.
Nine minutes later, Zob Ahan’s forward Yaser Feyzi seized a fine chance to put the ball in the back of the visitors’ net, but squandered it and the ball rolled away from Esteghlal Khuzestan goal.
The first big flashpoint of the game came in the 36th minute as an Esteghlal Khuzestan player’s tackle saw Zob Ahan’s head coach Yahya Golmohammadi react furiously. The visitors retaliated only after three minutes, and executed a tackle that flared up tempers again.
In the 40th minute, Zob Ahan defender Vahid Mohammadzadeh committed a handball inside the 18-yard box, and the referee Seyyed Reza Mahdavi pointed to the penalty spot.
Zob Ahan’s goalkeeper Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri, though, made a great save and killed off the visitors’ scoring hopes.
Esteghlal Khuzestan’s footballers then failed in their assault to get a goal, before linesman Majid Vishgahi decided that the penalty kick must be repeated. Esteghlal Khuzestan’s midfielder Meysam Doraghi subsequently converted the shot into a goal and put his squad 1-0 ahead.
After the interval, the hosts mounted a raft of offenses but it was again the visitors who scored a goal. Esteghlal Khuzestan’s forward Rahim Mehdi Zohaivio smashed a beautiful header into the back of the net in the 52nd minute.
In the 68th minute, Tabrizi netted Zob Ahan’s first goal when he converted a header into the opposite side’s net.
Six minutes after that, Feyzi headed in a corner kick to net the equalizer and level the game 2-2.
Both teams failed to produce a goal in the remaining minutes of the second half, and the game extended into the extra-time. Vishgahi awarded Zob Ahan a penalty kick in the 93rd minute, and midfielder Mehdi Mehdipour struck a shot that kissed Esteghlal Khuzestan’s net.
Zob Ahan earned the winning penalty in the 113th minute, before the referee issued a red card to Esteghlal Khuzestan’s goalkeeper Goudarz Davoudi and he was sent off the field.
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