TEHRAN – Mohsen Khalili celebrated his double and helped the sixth Iran Pro League title hopeful SAIPA topple the capital-based Esteqlal with a 2-1 win here Sunday.

SAIPA hit the post and crossbar in the 27th minute of the 29th week match, but the blue-clad Esteqlal opened the scoring eight minutes later when striker Siavash Akbarpur superbly fed by midfielder Maysam Bao beat in-form keeper Misaq Me’marzadeh with a left drive from close range.

The automakers should have leveled the match in injury time as it was awarded a spot-kick for Esteqlal goalie Vahid Taleblu’s foul on frolic striker Ahmad Mo’menzadeh, but skipper Ebrahim Sadeqi’s penalty kick went wide above the woodwork.

Bao cupped his face with his hands on 72 minutes as his shot was blocked in the goalmouth and the rebound helped SAIPA score the equalizer in a counterattack through Khalili whose left drive took a vicious deflection off defender in.

Substitute Ali Alizadeh failed to retake the lead for Blues in the 74th minute, seeing his drive be saved by the advancing Me’marzadeh.

The situation was aggravated for Esteqlal and over 70,000 white-hot fans in Azadi Stadium when Khalili escaped offside trap on 77 minutes to race to a perfect cross from Omid Sharifi-Nassab and to dribble past Taleblu to find the unguarded net.

Alizadeh showed no flair for scoring 10 minutes from normal time, failing to beat the keeper in a man-to-man challenge.

Esteqlal slips to third place of the 16-strong table with 51 points, SAIPA is now the pacesetter on 52 points and goal difference as Esteqlal of southern city of Ahvaz moves to second spot with a 1-0 victory over Fajr-e Sepassi.

Saeid Ramezani scored the southerners’ winner after 50 minutes.