Persianfootball.com – DOHA, Iran booked the second win in as many encounters in the u-23 friendly tournament in Qatar, defeating the hosts 2-1 on Saturday.


Coach Alireza Mansourian changed the team which had defeated Morocco 1-0 on Thursday on four positions, also replacing the goalscorer Payam Sadeghian by Kaveh Rezaei and Milad Gharibi by Omid Alishah.

Striker Rezaei showed his killer instinct when he perfectly controlled a splendid through ball from playmaker Mohsen Mosalman and curled the ball into the net to give Iran the lead in first half.

Alishah added a second with a splendid shot from outside the area after the break.

Qatar pulled one back with a no lesser beautiful goal and were unlucky when the woodwork denied them an equalizer from close range.

Frustrated by the technical superiority of the visitors, the homeside engaged in brutal play towards the end of a game and several suspension-worthy incidents occured, but only one was spotted by the referee and so Qatar ended the match with ten men.

With only one round to play, Iran lead the table with six points ahead of Turkey with four, Qatar with one and Morocco with zero points.

Iran will take on Turkey on Monday.

Iran: Beiranvand – Lotfi, Khanzadeh, Hajmohammadi, Zendehrouh (Esmailbeigi) – Rahmani (Karami), Pouraliganji, Mosalman – Jahanbakhsh, Rezaei, Alishah (Khoshnava)


Top