Arab Media Covers Blues' Brilliance in Doha / Winwin: Esteghlal Thwart Al-Gharafa's Comeback

The Arabic site Winwin reported on Esteghlal's victory, writing that the Blues did not allow Al-Gharafa's comeback to be completed in the second half.

According to "Varzeh Se", Esteghlal managed to beat Al Gharafa in the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium with a score of 2:1 in their second match in the new season of the Asian Elite League, and by winning the second consecutive victory, they gained six points. This result was widely reflected in the Qatari and Arabic media, and the Winwin site also reviewed this match with the headline "The second consecutive defeat, Esteghlal thwarted Al-Gharafa's comeback".

Winwin wrote at the beginning of his report: "Qatar's Al-Gharafa experienced its second consecutive loss in the Asian Elite League after losing 2-1 against Esteghlal of Iran. This match was held at Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in the framework of the second week of the league stage in order to continue the unsuccessful process of Al Gharafa in Asia after the defeat against Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia. "Despite the host's efforts to come back and reach a draw, Esteghlal Comeback thwarted the representative of Qatar and won three match points."

This Arabic media wrote about the course of the first half: "Al-Gharafa started the match by trying to impose their style of play, and Esteghlal used free kicks to reach the host's goal. The first serious chance of the Iranian team was created in the 12th minute when Saman Fallah headed Jalaluddin Masharipov's corner kick, but his ball went over the goal.

In the continuation of this report, it is stated: "Estiqlal scored the first goal in the 37th minute." Yasir Asani made a powerful shot from behind the penalty area with his left foot, and the ball landed in the upper corner of Al-Gharafa's goal. Al-Gharafa started the second half aggressively, and in the 48th minute, Farjani Sassi's ground kick equalized, so that the match would start again from the starting point, and the Qatari representative would be motivated to win."

Weinwein wrote about the second goal of the Blues: "Estiqlal regained its advantage very soon. In the 60th minute, Hossein Gudarzi sent the ball to the bottom corner of the goal with a strong shot from behind the penalty area and with his left foot, and once again put Al-Gharafa in a difficult position to avoid the second defeat in a row.

This site further pointed to the role of Habib Farabbasi in maintaining the superiority of Esteghlal and wrote: "Al-Gharafa increased their attacks in the final minutes, but Habib Farabbasi blocked Florinel Coman's shot in the 83rd minute and two minutes later he stood against Aladdin Hassan's chance. The goalkeeper of Esteghlal reacted to the header of the Al-Gharafa player as well as the header of Farjani Sassi in the lost time.

Winwin wrote at the end of his report: "Despite the continuous pressure of Al-Gharafa and the opportunities that the host got in extra time, Esteghlal maintained its advantage until the final whistle and prevented the opponent from completing the comeback. With this result, Esteghlal reached six points and recorded its second consecutive victory, but Al-Gharafa remained without points after two defeats to experience difficult conditions at the beginning of the competition.