Persepolis F.C.–Sepahan S.C. rivalry

The rivalry between Persepolis and Sepahan is a footballing rivalry played between Iranian clubs Persepolis and Sepahan.

Persepolis-Sepahan rivalry
Other namesIran El Clasico
Locale Tehran, Iran
Isfahan, Iran
TeamsPersepolis Football Club
Sepahan Sport Club
First meeting1–2
Sepahan – Persepolis
(11 February , 1972)
Latest meeting0–0
Persepolis – Sepahan
(5 January, 2021)
Statistics
Meetings total74 matches
Most winsPersepolis (25)
Most player appearancesMoharram Navidkia (23)
Top scorerEdmond Bezik (7)
Largest victoryPersepolis 6–0 Sepahan
1971–72 Local League
(19 March, 1972 (1972-03-19))
Sepahan (left) and Persepolis playing in 2015.

History

2006 Hazfi Cup Final

This rivalry started in 2006 when Sepahan and Persepolis contested the Hafzi Cup championship, Iranian football's second-most prestigious competition. After both teams battled to a 1–1 tie in the first leg in Tehran, the two sides returned to Esfahan's Nagshe Jahan Stadium for the pivotal second leg, when a champion would be crowned. The first half was uneventful. But in the second half, things would get explosive. Ebrahim Asadi gave the reds the lead at the 56-minute mark. With that, a Persepolis championship seemed to be a foregone conclusion. But just nine minutes later, Hamid Shafiee, who also scored the equalizer in the first leg, tied the game with a goal in the 64th minute. Neither team would do anything special in extra time, so the game went to penalty kicks.

In the fateful shootout, Sepahan got off to a bad start as Jalal Akbari missed his shot and Karim Bagheri gave Persepolis the lead. But Sheis Rezaei and Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht missed their shots, and Sepahan would go on to win 4–2 in the shootout.

2007 Hazfi Cup Semifinal

As expected, the two sides would meet again in next year's Hazfi Cup semifinal. This time the spoils would be decided in one game, and with Persepolis playing in front of 100,000 supporters in Azadi Stadium, they looked like a good bet for revenge. The reds got off to a good start by scoring midway through the second half on a penalty kick by Farzad Ashoubi. Persepolis would also have some chances to extend their lead. All was set for a Persepolis celebration when with just two minutes left, Sepahan earned a penalty of their own. Hadi Aghili converted with ease, silencing the crowd and sending the game into extra time.

In the extra sessions, nothing much happened from the home side and most Spectators hoped the game to go to penalty kicks again. But the Sepahan players never gave up and could not let the chance decide for the winner. Out of nowhere, Mahmoud Karimi, who had barely played all season for Sepahan, and was ignored by the government controlled media of Iran, emerged as an unlikely hero by scoring three goals in the span of just nine minutes to sink Persepolis 4–1. Sepahan would go on to win their second straight Hazfi Cup by beating Saba Battery 4–0 on aggregate, and Persepolis fans have found this harsh defeat heartbreaking and tough to forget.

2008 IPL Championship

Persepolis' fans after the match of Persepolis-Sepahan in the 2007–08 season

Throughout the 2007–2008 Iran Pro League season, Persepolis, under new head coach Afshin Ghotbi, was dominating the league. However, their one obstacle was still Sepahan, as they would be the only contender to bother Persepolis. In the middle of the season, Persepolis and Sepahan met at Esfahan's Fouladshahr Stadium. Sepahan won that game 2–1, handing Persepolis their first loss of the season. However, Sepahan would lose five points (reduced to three on an appeal) due to fan violence. But Persepolis also lost six points due to inability to pay former players. All things considered, Sepahan had a two-point lead over Persepolis at the top going into the last week of the season.

As fate would have it, the two teams would meet on the last day of the season in front 100,000 raucous fans in Azadi Stadium. Sepahan needed only a point to be crowned champs, while nothing less than a victory would do for the red giants. Persepolis got off to a dream start with a goal in the 18th minute from the league's top goalscorer, Mohsen Khalili. Khalili would also go on to hit the post and Persepolis was also denied a penalty kick on a controversial non-call by referee Saeed Mozafarri. Those misses would prove to be costly as 18-year-old sensation Ehsan Hajisafi would tie the game on a breakaway in the 30th minute. At halftime it remained 1–1, and Sepahan was just 45 minutes away from breaking the reds' hearts once more.

Throughout the second half, it was all one-way traffic as Ghotbi's men put four strikers upfront against Sepahan's defense, which still stood strong for almost the entire second half and did not allow Persepolis to get the imperative goal they needed. After 90 minutes plus five minutes of stoppage time, the score was still the same, and Sepahan was getting ready to celebrate. But this time, luck would shift Persepolis' way. A Khalili free kick bounced at the feet of Karim Bagheri. Bagheri's experience would take over from there, as he sent a high cross to Sepehr Heidari who headed the ball in the back of the net in the 96th minute, giving Persepolis the championship, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Heidari's goal earned him a spot in Persepolis lore and proved to be a historic and memorable moment in team history.

2009 Hazfi Cup Round of 16

The two teams would meet at the Azadi Stadium again, this time in the Round of 16 of the Hazfi Cup. This time, however, both teams had been through a very lackluster season as they both changed coaches twice during the regular season. Sepahan and Persepolis finished 4th and 5th respectively in the IPL, which meant a very underachieving season for both teams.

Persepolis would take an early lead on a 12th minute cracker by Maziar Zare. Since then, the game became more lively as both teams created numerous chances. Zare also missed a golden opportunity to double his goal tally and Persepolis' lead after missing a penalty kick. In second half stoppage time, Sepahan captain Moharram Navidkia also squandered a tailor-made opportunity by firing over the bar from just a few yards out. Persepolis would go on to the quarterfinals, where they went down 2–1 to Pas Hamedan.

The aftermath of this game was very ironic in the sense that Sepahan, despite crashing out of the Hazfi Cup, would still qualify for the AFC Champions League because neighbors Zob Ahan, who finished second (among the top three) in the IPL, won the Hazfi Cup, which gave 4th placed Sepahan qualification to the AFC Champions League. Persepolis, however, had nothing to show for their efforts after having a more expensive squad than last season, when they won the IPL.

2013 Hazfi Cup Final

The 2013 Hazfi Cup Final was the clubs' second meeting in the final where Sepahan won 4–2 over Persepolis in the penalties in 2006. The match was also the last match of Persepolis captain Mehdi Mahdavikia, a former Iran national football team and Hamburg SV midfielder. After failed to agree on a venue between Ahvaz, Mashhad and Tabriz, final venue was decided with draw which Azadi Stadium was announced as the venue for the 2013 final. The two teams finished 1-1 in regular time and 2-2 after extra-time. The game went to penalties and Sepahan defeated Persepolis 4-2 in the penalty shootout.[1]

All results

No. Date Persepolis vs Sepahan Persepolis' goal Sepahan's goal Venue Competition Comments
11972–Feb-112–1Hossein Kalani – Mahmoud KhordbinHamid NadimianIsfahanLocal League 2nd
21972–Mar-196–0Homayoun Behzadi 11', 55' – Asghar Adibi 3' – Ali Parvin 57' – Mahmoud Khordbin 64' – Reza Vatankhah 83'TehranLocal League 2nd
31974–751–0Ali ParvinIsfahanTakht Jamshid Cup 2nd
41974–753–0Mohammad Dastjerdi (2) – Safar IranpakTehranTakht Jamshid Cup 2nd
51975–761–0Esmaeil Haj RahimipourTehranTakht Jamshid Cup 3rd
61975–760–0IsfahanTakht Jamshid Cup 3rd
71976–772–2Esmaeil Haj Rahimipour – Ali Parvin? – ?TehranTakht Jamshid Cup 4th
81976–771–1Jahangir Fatahi?IsfahanTakht Jamshid Cup 4th
91977–783–0Mahmoud Khordbin – Safar Iranpak – Ali ParvinTehranTakht Jamshid Cup 5th
101977–780–0IsfahanTakht Jamshid Cup 5th
111989–901–1Morteza Kermani MoghaddamHossein TalakeshIsfahanQods League
121989–903–0Reza Abedian – Rahim Yousefi – Karim BaviTehranQods League
131991–923–0Nasser Mohammadkhani (2) – Mojtaba MoharramiTehranAzadegan Cup 1st
141991–920–0IsfahanAzadegan Cup 1st
151993–943–0Jamshid Shahmohammadi – Farshad Pious – Javad ManafiTehranAzadegan Cup 3rd
161994-Jan-280–1Hamid Motahari 80'IsfahanAzadegan Cup 3rd
171995–961–1Hassan Shirmohammad?TehranAzadegan Cup 5th
181995–961–1Behrouz RahbarifarKarim GhanbariIsfahanAzadegan League 5th
191996–972–2Behrouz Rahbarifar – Edmond BezikLevon Stepanyan – Hamid MemarianTehranAzadegan League 6th
201996–970–1Levon StepanyanIsfahanAzadegan League 6th
211998–Oct-90–1Levon StepanyanIsfahanAzadegan League 8th
221999–Feb-223–1Edmond Bezik (2) – Hamid EstiliDavoud DehghaniTehranAzadegan League 8th
231999-May2–2Alireza Emamifar – Esmaeil HalaliAbdollah Veisi – Majid Basirat (p.)TehranHazfi CupQuarter-Final[2]
241999-June1–0Edmond BezikIsfahanHazfi CupQuarter-Final[3]
251999–Nov-200–0IsfahanAzadegan League 9th
262000–Apr-281–0Behnam Seraj 31'-TehranAzadegan League 9th
272000–Dec-230–0IsfahanAzadegan League 10th
282001–Apr-190–2Seyyed Amin Mousavi 67', 86'TabrizAzadegan League 10th
292001–Nov-230–0--IsfahanIPL 1st
302002–Mar-173–2Behrouz Rahbarifar 23'(p.) – Amirhossein Aslanian 86' – Behnam Abolghasempour 90+3'Levon Stepanian 46' – Afshin Hajipour 64'TehranIPL 1st
312003–Jan-021–2Ali AnsarianEdmond Bezik – Moharram NavidkiaIsfahanIPL 2nd
322003–May-191–1Ali AnsarianNasser FarshbafTehranIPL 2nd
332003–Sep-303–3Reza Jabbari 23' – Ali Salmani 52' – Issa Traoré 73'Asghar Talebnasab 37' - Edmond Bezik 40', 48'TehranIPL 3rd
342004–Jan-162–1Afshin Peyrovani 54' – Pejman Jamshidi 89'Mahmoud Karimi 46'IsfahanIPL 3rd
352004–Oct-290–0IsfahanIPL 4th
362005–May-151–2Javad Kazemian 35'Rasoul Khatibi 28', 68'TehranIPL 4th
372005–Dec-232–3Javad Kazemian 35' – Pejman Nouri 56'Rasoul Khatibi 30', 68' – Hadi Jafari 52'TehranIPL 5th
382006–Apr-210–2Rasoul Khatibi 69' – Jaba Mujiri 85'IsfahanIPL 5th
392006–Sep-131–1Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht 48'Hamid Shafiei 73'TehranHazfi CupFinal
402006-Sep-221–1
(2–4) Pen.
Ebrahim Asadi 55'Hamid Shafiei 64'IsfahanHazfi CupFinal
412006–Oct-220–0IsfahanIPL 6th
422007-Feb-92–1Abolfazl Hajizadeh 18' – Mehrzad Madanchi 89'Moharram Navidkia 78'TehranIPL 6th
432007–May-291–4
(a.e.t)
Farzad Ashoobi 64'(p.)Hadi Aghili 86'(p.) – Mahmoud Karimi 108', 111', 117'TehranHazfi CupSemi-Final
442007–Dec-311–2Abbas Aghaei 80'Mohammad Nosrati 36'(o.g.) – Emad Ridha 41'IsfahanIPL 7th
452008–May-172–1Mohsen Khalili 16' – Sepehr Heidari 90+6'Ehsan Hajsafi 29'TehranIPL 7th
462008–Oct-263–2Karim Bagheri 12' – Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht 45' 64'Emad Ridha 28', 34'TehranIPL 8th
472009–Feb-270–0IsfahanIPL 8th
482009–Apr-301–0Maziar Zare 12'TehranHazfi Cup1/8
492009-Nov-281–2Sepehr Heidari 65'Ibrahima Toure 27' – Hadi Aghili 90'(p.)IsfahanIPL 9th
502010–May-181–1Hadi Norouzi 47'Mehdi Karimian 77'TehranIPL 9th
512010–Sep-291–4Tiago Fraga 31'Ibrahima Touré 41' – Hadi Aghili 66'(p.) – Khosro Heydari 73' – Reza Enayati 86'TehranIPL 10th
522011–May-150–0IsfahanIPL 10th
532011–May-290–0
(4–2) Pen.
TehranHazfi Cup1/4
542011–Nov 190–0TehranIPL 11th
552012–Apr-121–1Mohammad Nouri 86'Xhevahir Sukaj 81'IsfahanIPL 11th
562012–Sep-230–2Adel Kolahkaj 51' – Xhevahir Sukaj 72'IsfahanIPL 12th
572013–Feb-261–0Hadi Norouzi 90+2'TehranIPL 12th
582013-May-052–2
(2–4) Pen.
Karim Ansarifard 24' – Mohammad Nouri 99'Xhevahir Sukaj 59' – Mohammad Gholami 106'TehranHazfi CupFinal
592013-Sep-200–2Hadi Aghili 6'(p.) – Amin Jahan Alian 90+4'IsfahanIPL 13th
602014-Jan-312–0Mohammad Abbaszadeh 12' – Hamidreza Aliasgari 18'TehranIPL 13th
612014-Oct-30–1Mehdi Sharifi 90+4'IsfahanIPL 14th
622015-Apr-161–2Hadi Norouzi 44'Mehdi Sharifi 85' – Luciano Pereira 90+2'TehranIPL 14th
632015-Aug-132–4Mehdi Taremi 12' – Omid Alishah 32'Ehsan Hajsafi 8' – Michael Umaña 39'(o.g.) – Hadi Aghili 56'(p.) – Mohammadreza Khalatbari 82'IsfahanIPL 15th
642016-Feb-022–2Ali Alipour 50' – Kamal Kamyabinia 75'Fozil Musaev 10' – Luciano Pereira 65'TehranIPL 15th
652016-Sep-213–1Omid Alishah 15' – Mehdi Taremi 61', 74'Ehsan Hajsafi 23'IsfahanIPL 16th
662017-Feb-182–1Mehdi Taremi 56'(p.) – Ramin Rezaeian 87'(p.)Taleb Reykani 80'(p.)TehranIPL 16th
672017-Sep-212–2Mehdi Taremi 39'(p.) – Ali Alipour 74'Marwan Hussein 61' – Jalaleddin Alimohammadi 87–IsfahanIPL 17th
682018-Feb-32–0Ali Alipour 10' – Shoja' Khalilzadeh 68'TehranIPL 17th
692018-Dec-091–1Ali Alipour 89'(p.)Ezzatollah Pourghaz 74'IsfahanIPL 18th
702019-Apr-260–0TehranIPL 18th
712019-May-291–0
(a.e.t)
Siavash Yazdani 120+1'(o.g.)IsfahanHazfi CupSemi-Final
722019-Sep-260–2Kiros Stanlley 81' – Mohammad Mohebi 85'TehranIPL 19th
732020-Feb-233–0
(awarded)
IsfahanIPL 19th[4]
742021-Jan-050–0TehranIPL 20th

Summary of results

Apps Persepolis wins Draws Sepahan wins
League (before IPL) 2611114
IPL 39111513
Hazfi Cup 9351
Total 74253118
Position Teams Matches Wins Draws Loses Goals
For
Goals
Against
Goal
Difference
1
Persepolis
74
25
31
18
90
75
+15
2 Sepahan 74183125 7590–15

Trophies

Team Domestic International Grand Total
Iranian League Hazfi Cup Super Cup Domestic Total AFC Champions League Asian Cup Winners' Cup International Total
Persepolis13632201123
Sepahan54090009

Goal scorers

  • Players in Italic are still active in football playing.
  • Players in bold are still active for Persepolis or Sepahan.
Edmond Bezik, top goalscorer of rivalries
Rasoul Khatibi, and Hadi Aghili the two players who are Sepahan's highest scorers of rivalries.
Mehdi Taremi, Persepolis' highest scorer of rivalries
Nat. Player Club(s) League Cup Total
Edmond Bezik 1 Persepolis / Sepahan 6 1 7
Rasoul Khatibi Sepahan 5 0 5
Mehdi Taremi Persepolis 5 0 5
Hadi Aghily Sepahan 4 1 5
Ali Parvin Persepolis 4 0 4
Ali Alipour Persepolis 4 0 4
Mahmoud Karimi Sepahan 1 3 4
Mahmoud Khordbin Persepolis 3 0 3
Behrouz Rahbarifar Persepolis 3 0 3
Levon Stepanyan Sepahan 3 0 3
Emad Mohammed Sepahan 3 0 3
Hadi Norouzi Persepolis 3 0 3
Ehsan Hajsafi Sepahan 3 0 3
Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht Persepolis 2 1 3
Xhevahir Sukaj Sepahan 2 1 3
Homayoun Behzadi Persepolis 2 0 2
Esmaeil Haj Rahimipour Persepolis 2 0 2
Mohammad Dastjerdi Persepolis 2 0 2
Safar Iranpak Persepolis 2 0 2
Nasser Mohammadkhani Persepolis 2 0 2
Amin Mousavi Sepahan 2 0 2
Ali Ansarian Persepolis 2 0 2
Javad Kazemian Persepolis 2 0 2
Moharram Navidkia Sepahan 2 0 2
Sepehr Heidari Persepolis 2 0 2
Ibrahima Toure Sepahan 2 0 2
Mehdi Sharifi Sepahan 2 0 2
Luciano Pereira Sepahan 2 0 2
Omid Alishah Persepolis 2 0 2
Mohammad Nouri Persepolis 1 1 2
Hamid Shafiei Sepahan 0 2 2
Hossein Kalani Persepolis 1 0 1
Hamid Nadimian Sepahan 1 0 1
Asghar Adibi Persepolis 1 0 1
Reza Vatankhah Persepolis 1 0 1
Jahangir Fattahi Persepolis 1 0 1
Morteza Kermani Moghaddam Persepolis 1 0 1
Hossein Talakesh Sepahan 1 0 1
Reza Abedian Persepolis 1 0 1
Rahim Yousefi Persepolis 1 0 1
Karim Bavi Persepolis 1 0 1
Mojtaba Moharrami Persepolis 1 0 1
Jamshid Shahmohammadi Persepolis 1 0 1
Farshad Pious Persepolis 1 0 1
Javad Manafi Persepolis 1 0 1
Hamid Motahari Sepahan 1 0 1
Hassan Shirmohammadi Persepolis 1 0 1
Karim Ghanbari Sepahan 1 0 1
Hamid Memarian Sepahan 1 0 1
Hamid Estili Persepolis 1 0 1
Davoud Dehghani Sepahan 1 0 1
Behnam Seraj Persepolis 1 0 1
Afshin Hajipour Sepahan 1 0 1
Amirhossein Aslanian Persepolis 1 0 1
Behnam Abolghasempour Persepolis 1 0 1
Nasser Farshbaf Sepahan 1 0 1
Reza Jabbari Persepolis 1 0 1
Asghar Talebnasab Sepahan 1 0 1
Ali Salmani Persepolis 1 0 1
Issa Traoré Persepolis 1 0 1
Afshin Peyrovani Persepolis 1 0 1
Pejman Jamshidi Persepolis 1 0 1
Hadi Jafari Sepahan 1 0 1
Pejman Nouri Persepolis 1 0 1
Jaba Mujiri Sepahan 1 0 1
Abolfazl Hajizadeh Persepolis 1 0 1
Mehrzad Madanchi Persepolis 1 0 1
Abbas Aghaei Persepolis 1 0 1
Pejman Nouri Persepolis 1 0 1
Mohsen Khalili Persepolis 1 0 1
Mehdi Karimian Sepahan 1 0 1
Tiago Fraga Persepolis 1 0 1
Khosro Heydari Sepahan 1 0 1
Reza Enayati Sepahan 1 0 1
Adel Kolahkaj Sepahan 1 0 1
Amin Jahan Alian Sepahan 1 0 1
Mohammad Abbaszadeh Persepolis 1 0 1
Hamidreza Aliasgari Persepolis 1 0 1
Mohammad Reza Khalatbari Sepahan 1 0 1
Fozil Musaev Sepahan 1 0 1
Kamal Kamyabinia Persepolis 1 0 1
Taleb Reykani Sepahan 1 0 1
Ramin Rezaeian Persepolis 1 0 1
Marwan Hussein Sepahan 1 0 1
Jalaleddin Alimohammadi Sepahan 1 0 1
Shoja' Khalilzadeh Persepolis 1 0 1
Ezzatollah Pourghaz Sepahan 1 0 1
Kiros Stanlley Sepahan 1 0 1
Mohammad Mohebi Sepahan 1 0 1
Alireza Emamifar Persepolis 0 1 1
Esmaeil Halali Persepolis 0 1 1
Abdollah Veisi Sepahan 0 1 1
Majid Basirat Sepahan 0 1 1
Ebrahim Asadi Persepolis 0 1 1
Farzad Ashoobi Persepolis 0 1 1
Maziar Zare Persepolis 0 1 1
Karim Ansarifard Persepolis 0 1 1
Mohammad Gholami Sepahan 0 1 1

League = "Iranian League" ; Cup = "Hazfi Cup"

1 Bezik scored 4 goals as the Persepolis player and 3 goals as the Sepahan player.

Hat-tricks

Mahmoud Karimi, the only hat-tricker of rivalry

A hat-trick is achieved when the same player scores three or more goals in one match. Listed in chronological order.

Sequence
Player No. of
goals
Time of goals Representing Final
score
Opponent Tournament
1. Mahmoud Karimi Sibaki3108', 111', 117'Sepahan4–1Persepolis2006–07 Hazfi Cup

Most successful coaches

  • Coaches in bold are still active for Persepolis or Sepahan.
Rank Head coach Club Matches Win Draw Lost Winning rate
1 Ali Parvin Persepolis 17 6 7 4 35%
2 Alan Rogers Persepolis 4 4 0 0 100%
3 Branko Ivanković Persepolis 10 4 4 2 40%
4 Hossein Faraki Sepahan 3 3 0 0 100%
5 Amir Ghalenoei Sepahan 10 3 5 2 30%
6 Edson Tavares Sepahan 2 2 0 0 100%
7 Afshin Ghotbi Persepolis 3 2 0 1 66%
8 Yahya Golmohammadi Persepolis 4 2 2 0 50%
9 Luka Bonačić Sepahan 6 2 3 1 33%

Notable matches

Persepolis Sepahan match in 1997

Persepolis won Sepahan in front of over 110’000 fans and became 2007–08 IPL champion. Mohsen Khalili scored a spectacular volley from 20 yards to give Persepolis the lead, But Ehsan Hajysafi equalised a few minutes later. With ninety minutes over, the injury time was nearly finished but Khalili again shot a deflected free-kick, Finding Karim Bagheri in the box. Bagheri turned and crossed the ball for Sepehr Heidari, who scored the second goal with a header to win the match for his team.

See also

References

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