Despite Tractosazi’s topping the table for the last days across the campaign, the quality of the starting XI along with the depth of the entire squad meant Faraki’s men were strong enough to pounce when Tractosazi wobbled, sealing a Fifth Premier League title to add to distance held with rivals in honors acquired.
Sepahan defeated Saipa of Alborz 2-0 in the last station of the league on Friday to top the table with 59 points ahead of Tractorsazi of Tabriz and Naft of Tehran, who leveled on 58 points to stand second and third places, respectively, by virtue of goal difference.
Tractorsazi’s home draw with Naft, the late collapse at Yadegar e Imam opened the door for Sepahan and they took advantage ruthlessly by winning their last six games.
It was a dramatic night for Tractorsazi, the most popular team among Iranian Azeri population, which saw its 3-1 lead against Naft leveled minutes to the hour mark, failing to clinch its first ever title in Iran’s top-flight football competition.
With 46 league goals and that one-point final margin, no-one can begrudge Sepahan a success that is richly merited, for all Tractorsazi’s efforts this season.
As referee Alireza Faghani sounded the final whistle and confirmation of the title, Tractorsazi’s fans and players rushed to celebrate the title as they were misinformed about the simultaneous Sepahan-Saipa match, but their five-minute-long celebration turned to bitter encounter with their heavy loss of trophy.
Sepahan timed their run to perfection, winning their last six games as Tractorsazi stumbled with the finishing line in sight.
The three top teams along with Zobahan, another outfit from Isfahan, were qualified for the 2015-16 Asian Champions League. Naft of Masjid Soleyman and Peikan were directly relegated to Iran’s lower league, known as First Division, while Esteghlal of Khuzestan, the 14th team in the table, would face Mes of Sarcheshme in the play-off to fight for a place in the Pro League.
Esteghlal and Persepolis, two giants from the capital, Tehran, failed to reap anything this time around. The two teams, which finished 6th and 8th in the table, respectively, faced off earlier in the day with Persepolis winning the prestigious derby 1-0 while Reds’ win over rivals had nothing to do with the table.
The final edition table of Iran’s Premier Football League at the end of 2014-2015 season follows:
Pos |
club |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
1 |
Sepahan |
30 |
17 |
8 |
5 |
46 |
27 |
19 |
59 |
2 |
Tractorsazi |
30 |
17 |
9 |
6 |
58 |
34 |
24 |
58 |
3 |
Naft of Tehran |
30 |
16 |
10 |
4 |
45 |
28 |
17 |
58 |
4 |
Zobahan |
30 |
14 |
10 |
6 |
46 |
26 |
20 |
52 |
5 |
Foulad of Khuzestan |
30 |
15 |
7 |
8 |
33 |
24 |
9 |
52 |
6 |
Esteghlal of Tehran |
30 |
13 |
8 |
9 |
33 |
24 |
6 |
47 |
7 |
Saipa of Karaj |
30 |
11 |
8 |
11 |
40 |
34 |
2 |
41 |
8 |
Persepolis of Tehran |
30 |
9 |
9 |
12 |
36 |
34 |
-4 |
36 |
9 |
Saba of Ghom |
30 |
8 |
10 |
12 |
31 |
35 |
-9 |
34 |
10 |
Padideh of Mashhad |
30 |
6 |
15 |
9 |
25 |
34 |
-2 |
33 |
11 |
Gostaresh Foulad |
30 |
6 |
13 |
11 |
30 |
39 |
-9 |
31 |
12 |
Rah Ahan of Tehran |
30 |
8 |
7 |
15 |
27 |
48 |
-21 |
31 |
13 |
Malavan of Anzali |
30 |
6 |
12 |
12 |
26 |
34 |
-8 |
30 |
14 |
Esteghlal of Khuzestan |
30 |
4 |
15 |
11 |
35 |
46 |
-11 |
27 |
15 |
Peikan of Tehran |
30 |
4 |
14 |
12 |
16 |
19 |
-13 |
26 |
16 |
Naft of Masjed Soleiman |
30 |
3 |
13 |
14 |
19 |
19 |
-20 |
22 |