Match Report
On the table this was a mismatch: Esteghlal (1st, 41 pts) held a 19-point advantage over Aluminium Arak (13th, 22 pts). On the form table Aluminium Arak stood 9th over the last five rounds, despite being 13th overall. Scoring rates set the scale: Esteghlal 1.32 scored and 0.73 conceded per game, Aluminium Arak 0.64 and 0.95, with the league averaging 0.91.
Esteghlal had won three straight. Aluminium Arak carried a 5-game unbeaten run into this.
The head-to-head ledger counts 5 games: 3 Esteghlal wins, 0 for Aluminium Arak, 2 draws, at 2.4 goals per meeting. Hosting has counted for little in this fixture — the home side has won only 40% of those meetings. Only 20% of the meetings produced more than two goals.
The match was played at Shahr-e Qods Stadium (capacity 8,000).
Goal scorers
Esteghlal: Munir El Haddadi (45'), Alireza Koushki (64'), Jasir Asani (17') · Aluminium Arak: Rahman Jafari (52')