After securing the title of Persian Gulf Pro League three weeks before the end of the games on April 9, Persepolis FC celebrated its second successive title under the management of Croatian coach Branko Ivankovic on the last day of the 30-week tournament on Friday at Azadi Stadium in Tehran.
In the 30th encounter of the competition, the Reds beat Sepidrood Rasht 3-0 at home and received the league cup from Sports and Youth Minister Masoud Soltanifar.
The cup was raised by the nine-year-old Hani Norouzi, son of former Persepolis captain Hadi Norouzi, who passed away in October 2015 at the age of 30.
At the end of the league games, Persepolis’s striker Ali Alipour was named top scorer with 19 goals. Also, midfielder Mohsen Mosalman with 10 assists stood atop the highest assists list.
Persepolis has been the Iranian champion 11 times: seven in the old league and four in the current Persian Pro league.
Its four titles in the current league format gives Reds the second place of all-time winner of the title. Sepahan with five and Esteghlal with three times are first and third in the all-time record of the league respectively.
After Persepolis with 64 points atop this year’s league table, Zob-Ahan and Esteghlal stood at second and third places. Consequently, the top three teams qualified for the 2018-19 AFC Champions League.
All the three teams are also present in the Round of 16 of the current AFC Champions League. Persepolis advanced to the next round as Group C winner and will face Al Jazira of the UAE. Esteghlal advanced as Group D winner and will meet Zob-Ahan, the third Iranian team to enter the knockout stage.
The first leg of the Round of 16 matches will be played on May 7-9 and the return leg on May 14-16.
