4/21/2006
Afshin Afshar, lastkick.com

Esteghlal of Tehran are champions again. For the first time since the inauguration of the Iranian Professional League in 2002 the Blues, as they are affectionately called by their fans, have lifted the IPL trophy, and they earned it by a convincing 4:1 victory over Bargh of Shiraz.

Going into the last round the Blues were leading their closest challengers, Pas FC of Tehran, by one point, and they knew that a victory would give them the title no matter what.

The ever faithful Esteghlal fans started pouring into Tehran’s Azadi stadium hours ahead of the game. The traffic jam on the streets leading to Azadi got so bad that some were leaving their cars stranded in the middle of the streets in order to catch the opening kickoff. Still many found themselves locked out as the security staff had to lock the gates to the 100,000 capacity arena in order to prevent overcrowding.

And so the stage was set.

It took Esteghlal only a few minutes to shake the butterflies and grasp control of the game. Ten minutes in, IPL’s leading scorer Reza Enayati put Esteghlal on top with his 20th of the season. The fans had barely finished celebrating the first goal when Enayati’s striking partner Siavash Akbarpour doubled the lead.

Leading by two, the Blues started to slack of a bit and that gave Bargh the opportunity to get back into the game. But after a few missed opportunities and a couple of great saves by Esteghlal’s goalkeeper Vahid Talbelou, Bargh lost steam and Esteghlal regained control.

In the closing ten minutes of the first half, it was Esteghlal’s turn to put on the heat and substitute goalkeeper Reza Haj Asbouei of Bargh’s to make the brilliant saves. Haj Asboui had come in for starting goalkeeper Ashkan Namdari who seemed to have lost his nerve after receiving the second goal.

The first half ended with Esteghlal leading by a pair.

Esteghlal coach Amir Ghalehnoei’s locker room pep talk seemed to have energized his team as they started the second half with a barrage of attacks which should have put them further ahead if it was not for some bad luck, the woodwork, and in form Haj Asboui.

Finally, in the 71st minute Reza Enayati put the game out of reach when he scored his record breaking 21st goal of the season. His total surpasses the previous record of 20 held by now retired Perspolis great Farshad Pius.

Not to be outdone by Enayati, Akbarpour netted his second goal minutes later, and by then the celebrations in the stands had already started.

Shortly before the final whistle Bargh scored a consolation goal.