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PTV - ESFAHAN, Naft Tehran has been held back with a draw against Zob Ahan in the ninth week of the Iranian Premier League (IPL) and lost the chance to top the table.

Naft Tehran and Zob Ahan played out a 1-1 tie at Isfahan's Fouladshahr stadium on Sunday.

The home side was the better team of the pitch in the first half and managed to break the deadlock at the 36th minute of the match.

The result put Naft in the fourth place of the table with 18 points. If Naft had won the game, it would have climbed to the top spot of the IPL.

Mohammad Ghazi collected Payam Sadeghian's neat pass in the box and tapped an easy ball in Naft's goal.

Naft got the tempo of the match after the break and Mojtaba Zare' volleyed the ball in the 68th minute to level the game.

Neither teams scored any other goals during the match as they had to share points.

In the other match of the day, Sepahan demolished its host Saipa 4-0 in Karaj.

Emad Mohammed Ridha (25), Hasan Ashjari (48), Mehdi Karimian (57), and Milorad Janjus (85) scored Sepahan's goals, to see the Isfahan-based club jump to the fifth place of the table with 14 points.

Teraktorsazi sits atop the league standings with 19 points. Esteghlal and Saba both have the same number of points to lie second and third on goal difference.