TEHRAN — 10-man Foolad pulled off a dramatic 3-1 victory over Persepolis in Matchweek 18 of the 2025/26 Iran’s Persian Gulf Professional League (PGPL) at the Foolad Arena in Ahvaz on Wednesday.

The hosts took the lead in the 21st minute through Ehsan Mahroughi, who finished calmly to put Foolad ahead. However, the match took a dramatic turn later in the second half when Foolad midfielder Amirmasoud Sarabadani was shown a straight red card for bringing down Persepolis defender Hossein Abarghouei inside the penalty area.

Persepolis capitalized late on the advantage, as Ali Alipour converted from the penalty spot in the 89th minute to level the score and seemingly put the visitors in control heading into stoppage time.

Despite being reduced to 10 men, Foolad stunned Persepolis with a late surge. Farshad Ahmadzadeh restored the hosts’ lead in added time, before Yousef Mazraeh sealed the memorable win with a third goal just two minutes later.

Elsewhere in the league, Sepahan were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Gol Gohar. Majid Eydi opened the scoring for the visitors in the 34th minute, while Kaveh Rezaei equalized after the break in the 57th.

Earlier in the day, Mes Rafsanjan and Zob Ahan played out a goalless draw, Fajr Sepasi edged Kheybar 2-1, and Shams Azar claimed a 1-0 away victory over Paykan in Tehran.

At the top of the table, Tractor remain leaders with 32 points, ahead of Esteghlal and Sepahan on goal difference.