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Persianleague
- Jun 18, 2003
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IRNA - Struggling Malavan of Bandar Anzali, northern Iran, went one place above from the bottom of Iran Pro League (IPL) table as it beat the red-clad Persepolis 3-2 here on Tuesday. 
Playing in Takhti Stadium of Tehran, Malavan took an early lead as Peyman Nouri opened the scoring in the fourth minute. 
The reds were forced to take out the ball from the net 21 minutes later when Malavan striker Javad Shirzad fired home. 
Veteran midfielder of Persepolis Hamid Estili minimized the gap in the 31st minute, sending the two sides to the locker rooms with a 2-1 result. 
Nouri celebrated his second and Malavan's third goal in the 62nd minute but this was Persepolis striker Payan Ra'fat, who made it 3-2 on 68 minutes. 
In front of home fans, Persepolis lost to the underdog Malavan 3-2 as it did not find the net in the remaining 22 minutes. 
Winning 25 points out of 25 games, Malavan found itself above the relegated San'at Naft, standing in the 13th place. 
Persepolis dropped to the third place, having 41 points as Pas overcame Naft 4-2 in Tehran on Tuesday. 
Pas is now at the second place with 42 points. 
In other 25th week matches, Esteqlal of Ahvaz won the all-blue clash against Esteqlal of Tehran 2-1, ABu Moslem saw off visitor Paykan with a 3-1 defeat, and SAIPA crushed Barq of Shiraz 3-0 in Karaj, 35 km west of Tehran. 
SAIPA has collected 35 points, ranking 5th in the table. The loss did not change the place of Barq and it stood above Esteqlal of Ahvaz with 29 points. 
Esteqlal of Ahvaz and Abu Moslem retained their 11th and 12th places in the league table with 27 and 26 points respectively. 
Having 32 points, Tehran's Esteqlal replaced its eighth place with Foulad of Khuzestan, standing ninth. 
Three weeks ago, Sepahan of Isfahan celebrated the second IPL title. 
The soccer team of Sepahan of Isfahan became the first ever provincial team to win Iran's league championship after drawing with Persepolis in its away match on May 21. 
Playing a 23rd week match of the league, Sepahan gained the one point it needed to become champion three weeks before the end of the season. 
In Tehran's Takhti Stadium, Sepahan drew 1-1 with the red-clad Persepolis. 
The visitor Isfahani side lost to Fajr-e Sepassi of Shiraz 2-0 in its 25th match on Monday. Sepahan has now 52 points. 
Iran Pro League leader Sepahan was stunned on Monday as it lost its away match in the 25th week against Fajr-e Sepassi in Shiraz. 
Fajr handed the Isfahani side Sepahan a 2-0 defeat in Hafezieh Stadium of Shiraz. 
Ali Alizadeh of Fajr grabbed his double in the 5th and 12th minutes. 
Sepahan reduced to 10 men in the 44th minute when Reza Hassanzadeh was sent off. 
In another 25th week game in Isfahan's Fouladshahr Stadium, Zob Ahan saw off visitor Foulad of Khuzestan with a 2-1 loss. 
Foulad took the lead in the 15th minute by Seyed Mohammad Alavi but the resurgent Zob scored the equalizer in the 40th minute as Reza Sahebi converted a penalty and Hamid Shafiei grabbed a late winner two minutes before the normal time. 
The league table comes below: 
Team p w d l gf ga pts 
1- Sepahan 25 16 4 5 45 24 52 
2- Pas 25 12 6 7 34 21 42 
3- Persepolis 25 10 11 4 28 21 41 
4- Fajr-e Sepassi 25 10 9 6 27 21 39 
5- SAIPA 25 9 8 8 28 27 35 
6- Paykan 25 9 7 9 24 23 34 
7- Foulad 25 9 7 9 34 34 34 
8- Zob Ahan 25 10 4 11 20 24 34 
9- Esteqlal (Tehran) 25 8 8 9 32 29 32 
10- Barq 25 8 5 12 24 37 29 
11- Esteqlal (Ahvaz) 25 6 9 10 24 30 27 
12- Abu Moslem 25 5 11 9 21 23 26 
13- Malavan 25 6 7 12 17 34 25 
14- San'at Naft 25 5 8 12 22 33 23 
According to Iran Pro League Organization, the program of the IPL 
in the 26th week is as follows: 
* 26TH WEEK 
** Sunday, June 22 
San'at Naft vs Abu Moslem 
Paykan vs SAIPA 
Sepahan vs Pas 
Barq vs Zob Ahan 
Esteqlal of Tehran vs Fajr-e Sepassi 
Foulad vs Persepolis 
Malavan vs Esteqlal of Ahvaz 
All games in the 26th week start at 06:00 pm.