AFC - Midfielder Mohammed Nouri scored three minutes from time as struggling Piroozi salvaged a point from the all-ACL showdown against Sepahan following a 1-1 stalemate in the Iran Pro League on Thursday.

In the match played at Sepahan’s home stadium Folad Shahr Stadium, the hosts thought that they were walking away with all three points when Albanian striker Xhevahir Sukaj scored in the 82nd minute of the match but Nouri grabbed the equaliser five minutes later to deny the leaders.

The result was a big blow for the ACL 2007 runners-up as Tehran giants Esteghlal are just four points behind with a match in hand. Having some difficult fixtures including the penultimate tie away at cross-town rivals Zob Ahan, the ACL Group C leaders will have to toil hard to defend the title they have been winning since 2010 with just four matches remaining in the Championship.

The Zlatko Kranjcar side are unbeaten in Group C and lead the table with seven points from three matches. Both of their wins in the competitions have come at home while they drew with Al Ahli 1-1. A win for Sepahan against Qatar’s League champions Lekhwiya at the Al Sadd Stadium on 18 April will make Sepahan the favourites to win the group.



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