Foolad Beats 9-Man Esteghlal in IPL
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Nine-man Esteghlal football team suffered a 2-1 defeat against Foolad in the Iran Professional League (IPL) in Ahvaz Wednesday night.
Rouzbeh Cheshmi was on target for Esteghlal in 12th minute at the Foolad Arena and Moussa Coulibaly equalized the match in the 27th minute.
Esteghlal's nightmare began when Ali Karimi was sent off after elbowing a Foolad player in the 45th minute.
Foolad put the Blues under pressure and created several chances. Esteghlal defender Aref Gholami received his second yellow card in the 67th minute.
Foolad took advantage of the opportunity and Mojtaba Najjarian found the back of the net in the 80th minute.
Esteghlal and Foolad are fourth and fifth respectively in the IPL with 36 points.
Persepolis sits top of the table with 47 points.
It was the first match in three months after the competitions were halted due to COVID-19.
