Persepolis held to 2-2 draw by Malavan

Nikbakht scored twice in the 64th minute. He dribbled Malavan’s defender into the box and put the ball far from Masoud Gholamalizad’s hands.

Persepolis could have opened more goals in the second half, but the opportunities were carelessly wasted by their players.

A dubious penalty was shown by Referee Mohsen Ghahremany and Rafkhahi converted in the 78th minute.

The big match of this round ended in a 1-1 draw between Esteghlal and last season’s runners-up Sepahan. Mehdi Jafarpour put Sepahan ahead in the 24th minute but the 2007 AFC Champions League runners-up failed to prevent Pirooz Ghorbani from scoring a 73rd minute equaliser.

AFC Champions League quarter-finalists Saipa suffered a solitary goal defeat to Peykan, thanks to Meysam Rezapour’s strike on 70 minutes.

Sunday IPL matches:

* Zob Ahan of Isfahan 1 – Pegah of Gilan 1
* Moghavemat of Shiraz 1 – Mes of Keman 0
* Saipa of Karaj 0 – Peykan of Ghazvin 0
* Pas of Hamedan 0 – Abumoslem of Khorasan  0
* Payam of Khorasan 0 – Fulad of Khuzestan 0