TEHRAN – Foolad’s league title challenge suffered a massive blow as the team lost to Zob Ahan 3-0 on Friday.

In the match held at Fooladshahr Stadium in Isfahan, Majid Aliyari gave the hosts an early lead just eight minutes into the game. Mahmoud Ghaed Rahmati extended the advantage to 2-0 in the 32nd minute, and Mojtaba Najarian scored an own goal in the 67th minute, bringing the final score to 3-0.

With nine weeks remaining, Foolad are third with 38 points, seven points adrift of the leaders.

In other matches, Kheybar defeated Aluminum 1-0, while struggling Nassaji secured a significant 1-0 victory over Shams Azar. The bottom-placed Havadar faced a 1-0 home loss against Gol Gohar.

Tractor currently lead the 2024/25 Iran Persian Gulf Professional League (PGPL) with 45 points, closely followed by Sepahan with 44 points.