Ma'danchi sinks navigators, saves Persepolis semis spot

IRNA - Budding striker Mehrzad Ma'danchi hit two to help Persepolis beat the Navy's Malavan 3-1 in the League Cup quarterfinal in Azadi Stadium, west of the capital, Saturday.

The northerners should have opened the scoring two minutes after the kickoff through striker Mohammad Gholami, whose drilling header was diverted to corner by Persepolis keeper Mohammad Mohammadi.

Persepolis also lost a couple of scoring chances, but out-of-sort forward Javad Kazemian missed the best opportunity on 25 minutes when he hit the ball against Malavan goalie Massoud Gholamalizad's face with the goal begging.

Ma'danchi stole a loose ball four minutes later, forcing a dive from Gholamalizad, whose fingertips denied the Reds the opener, reported the English-language daily Tehran Times in its Sunday's edition.

The striker recently summoned to national training camp rattled the crossbar in the 38th minute and seconds later his teammate Mohammad-Reza Mamani lost his balance in the area, but the referee Iraj Nazari ruled out a penalty award.

Some 35,000 fans, however, celebrated the opener one minute from the interval as midfielder Pejman Nouri's inswinging drive from behind the box found the back of the net.

It was not the day of Kazemian as the striker failed to clear the advancing Gholamalizad in a one-on-one confrontation four minutes into the second half.

Persepolis made it 2-0 on 70 minutes following a solo effort from the Czech signing Robert Saha. The left winger carried the ball some 35 yards before leaving Ma'danchi alone with the keeper to beat with a side-footed kick.

Malavan midfielder Maziar Zare' stopped the fans' party one minute later, sending a long free-kick in an unguarded net.

But Ma'danchi wrapped up the victory four minutes from time with a classy drive from an acute angle, ricocheting in off the far post.

SAVIOR NOURI
In another quarterfinal played Friday, Mohammad Nouri inspired Sepahan into a 1-0 home victory over Tractor Sazi.

The only goal of the match came after 22 minutes when Nouri capitalized on a goalkeeping blunder from Kazem Farhani, firing home from close range.

Tractor Sazi should have leveled the game in the 36th minute through Alireza Daghagheleh, who surprisingly did not find the empty net.

Farhani blocked a goal-bounder header from Sepahan striker Rassoul Khatibi one minute from the break.

Sepahan keeper Massoud Homami denied the visitor the equalizer on 60 minutes, palming away a header from Mohammad-Ali Faridi-Khatibi on the goal-line.

The home side almost doubled the cushion, rattling the post with a free-kick from Abbas Aqaei with one minute to go.

ESTEQLAL WITHDRAWAL
Esteqlal Thursday announced its withdrawal from Iran's League Cup.

Esteqlal was to travel to the northern capital Sari on April 28 to play Nojan in the League Cup quarterfinal.

The capital's popular side that celebrated the fifth Iran Pro League (IPL) title last Friday explained that eight players of the team are training in national camp and some have been sidelined by injuries.

National call-up and injuries prompted the club's directorate to make the decision, read the announcement.

Esteqlal Sports-Cultural Club has apologized to millions of fans and northerners, vowing to play a friendly in the province at an appropriate time.

Winning 59 points from 30 games, Esteqlal lifted the IPL trophy in Azadi Stadium packed with over 110,000 fans.

The Football Federation has yet to decide on the Blues' withdrawal.

In semifinals, Persepolis takes on Nojan and Sepahan plays Saba Battery.