The most prestigious showpiece of the Iranian football league has ended in a draw in an event filled with thrilling moments on the pitch and blanketed in high emotions for a major footballer whose pass-away was a shock for the arch-rivals.

Esteghlal and Persepolis ended their game in a 1-1 draw in Tehran’s Azadi stadium on Friday with two goals in early and late minutes of the second half putting everything between the two Iranian football giants on level.

Esteghlal scored in the 49th minute after Jaber Ansari headed home an excellent cross set by former national team player Khosro Heidari.

Everything was going through smoothly for the table-leaders in match-day 11 until an all-out attack into their box in the very last seconds of the game saw the Honduran Jerry Bengtson scoring the level for Persepolis.

The match was filled with emotional moments in remembrance of Persepolis’ late captain, Hadi Norouzi. The Reds wore first-time black jerseys in his honor while the spectators held images and writings commemorating the player who died of a reported stroke at the age of 30 in Tehran in early October.



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] Esteghlal fans in Tehran’s Azadi stadium hold the letters and digits representing Hadi Norouzi, the late captain of the rivals Persepolis, during a match between the two teams in Tehran on October 30, 2015. (Photo by Farsnews)[/caption]

The draw was the 37th in the history of the prestigious match, which is known as the Sorkhabi (Red-Blue) derby of Tehran. Esteghlal has won 24 and Persepolis 20 in 81 matches the teams have played over the 47 years.

Iran’s top-class football event, officially called the Persian Gulf Pro League, is held on an August-May calendar with 16 teams from across Iran competing in a hierarchical format.

By Prees TV