2020–21 Esteghlal F.C. season

The 2020–21 Esteghlal Football Club season is the club's 75th season in existence and the 27th consecutive season in the top flight of Iranian football. In addition to the domestic league, Esteghlal participates in this season's editions of the Hazfi Cup, and the AFC Champions League.

Esteghlal F.C.

2020–21 season
Chairman	Ahmad Madadi
Manager	Mahmoud Fekri
Stadium	Azadi Stadium
Pro League	1st
Hazfi Cup	Preseason
AFC Champions League	Preseason
Top goalscorer	League: Mehdi Ghayedi (4) Voria Ghafouri (4) All: Mehdi Ghayedi (4) Voria Ghafouri (4)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Players

First team squad

Last updated: 20 October 2020[1]

No.	Name	Nat	Position	Date of Birth (Age)	Since	End	Signed from
Goalkeepers
1	Hossein Hosseini		GK	30 June 1992 (aged 28)	2012	2021	Youth Sector
12	Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri		GK	18 May 1989 (aged 31)	2020	2022	Tractor
Defenders
2	Mohammad Naderi		LB / CB	5 October 1996 (aged 24)	2020	2021	Kortrijk
3	Mohammad Hossein Moradmand		CB	22 June 1993 (aged 27)	2020	2022	Shahr Khodro
4	Siavash Yazdani		CB	2 March 1992 (aged 28)	2019	2021	Sepahan
5	Aref Gholami		CB / RB	19 April 1997 (aged 23)	2019	2022	Foolad
20	Ahmad Mousavi		RB / RW	4 February 1992 (aged 28)	2020	2022	Gol Gohar
21	Vouria Ghafouri		RB / RW	20 September 1987 (aged 33)	2016	2022	Sepahan
27	Matin Karimzadeh		LB / LM	1 July 1998 (aged 22)	2020	2023	Pars Jonoubi
33	Hrvoje Milić		LB / LM	10 May 1989 (aged 31)	2019	2021	Crotone
70	Mohammad Daneshgar		CB / RB	20 January 1994 (aged 26)	2018	2022	Saipa
Midfielders
6	Masoud Rigi		DM / CM	22 February 1991 (aged 29)	2019	2021	Shahr Khodro
8	Farshid Esmaeili		AM / LW / RW	23 February 1994 (aged 26)	2015	2021	Fajr Sepasi
9	Mehdi Mehdipour		CM / DM	18 February 1994 (aged 26)	2020	2023	Zob Ahan
11	Dariush Shojaeian		AM / RW / LW	7 April 1992 (aged 28)	2017	2021	Gostaresh Foulad
14	Farshid Bagheri		DM / CM	5 June 1992 (aged 28)	2016	2021	Saba Qom
15	Sina Khadempour		DM / CB	9 January 1997 (aged 23)	2017	2023	Naft Tehran
22	Babak Moradi		LW / RW	29 July 1993 (aged 27)	2020	2022	Machine Sazi
40	Amir Hossein Khodamoradi		AM / RW / LW	13 September 2000 (aged 20)	2020	2023	Youth Sector
42	Fardin Rabet		LW / RW	29 October 2001 (aged 19)	2020	2025	Youth Sector
88	Arash Rezavand		AM / CM / RW	5 October 1993 (aged 27)	2019	2021	Saipa
Forwards
7	Cheick Diabaté		CF	25 April 1988 (aged 32)	2019	2021	Osmanlıspor
10	Mehdi Ghayedi		CF / SS / LW	5 December 1998 (aged 22)	2017	2023	Iranjavan
72	Amir Arsalan Motahari		CF / RW	10 March 1993 (aged 27)	2020	2021	Zob Ahan
99	Sajjad Aghaei		CF / LW	19 March 1999 (aged 21)	2017	2023	Youth Sector

Transfers

In

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Moving from	Type	Transfer window	Ends	Source
40	AM		Amir Hossein Khodamoradi	19	Esteghlal Academy	Promoted	Summer	2023	[2]
41	RB		Arash Dajliri	21	Esteghlal Academy	Promoted	Summer	2023	[3]
42	LW		Fardin Rabet	18	Esteghlal Academy	Promoted	Summer	2025
43	CF		Mohammad Abedi	21	Esteghlal Academy	Promoted	Summer	2024	[4]
74	CB		Erfan Rohani	19	Esteghlal Academy	Promoted	Summer		[5]
—	GK		Amir Mohammad Bahrehmand	18	Esteghlal Academy	Promoted	Summer	2022
99	CF		Sajjad Aghaei	21	Zob Ahan	End of loan	Summer	2022	[6]
12	GK		Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri	31	Tractor	Transfer	Summer	2022	[7]
27	LB		Matin Karimzadeh	22	Pars Jonoubi	Transfer	Summer	2023	[8]
22	LW		Babak Moradi	27	Machine Sazi	Transfer	Summer	2022	[9]
20	RB		Ahmad Mousavi	28	Gol Gohar	Transfer	Summer	2022	[10]
3	CB		Mohammad Hossein Moradmand	27	Shahr Khodro	Transfer	Summer	2022	[11]
9	CM		Mehdi Mehdipour	26	Zob Ahan	Transfer	Summer	2023	[12]
2	LB		Mohammad Naderi	24	Kortrijk	Transfer	Summer	2021	[13]
—	CB		Mikaeil Sheikhi	18	Karun Ramhormoz	Transfer	Summer	2025	[14]
—	RW		Alireza Khodabakhshi	18	Esteghlal Academy	Promoted	Summer	2025	[15]
71	CF		Mohammad Hossein Fallah	20	Nirooye Zamini	Transfer	Summer	2025	[16]
79	RW		Sobhan Khaghani	20	Tractor	Transfer	Summer	2025	[17]
—	CB		Mohammad Javad Behafarin	21	Esteghlal Academy	Promoted	Summer	2025

Out

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Moving to	Type	Transfer window	Source
20	CB		Nikolay Bodurov	33	Pirin Blagoevgrad	Transfer	Summer	[18]
30	CB		Azim Gök	24	Mes Kerman	Transfer	Summer	[19]
28	AM		Mohsen Karimi	26	Gol Gohar	Transfer	Summer	[20]
4	CB		Roozbeh Cheshmi	27	Umm Salal	Transfer	Summer	[21]
—	CM		Aref Gholampour	20	Foolad	Transfer	Summer	[22]
9	RW		Ali Dashti	26	Zob Ahan	Transfer	Summer	[23]
80	LW		Mohammad Bolboli	22	Naft MIS	Loan	Summer	[24]
6	CM		Ali Karimi	25	Qatar	Transfer	Summer	[25]
3	LB		Milad Zakipour	24	Gol Gohar	Transfer	Summer	[26]
—	LM		Mohammad Eslami	20	Tractor	Transfer	Summer	[27]
32	RB		Amirhossein Kargar	21	Gol Gohar	Transfer	Summer	[28]
19	GK		Hossein Pour Hamidi	22	Aluminium Arak	Loan	Summer
17	RW		Zakaria Moradi	22	Malavan	Loan	Summer	[29]
57	CB		Shahin Taherkhani	23	Paykan	Transfer	Summer	[30]
11	CF		Morteza Tabrizi	30	Gol Gohar	Transfer	Winter	[31]

Pre-season and friendlies

19 October 2020 1	Esteghlal	2 – 1	Naft MIS	Tehran
14:50 IRST (UTC+03:30)	M. Rigi  28' A. Rezavand  34'	Report	M. Niyayesh-Pour  73'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium

24 October 2020 2	Esteghlal	1 – 0	Havadar	Tehran
15:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)	A. Rezavand  41'	Report		Stadium: Azadi Stadium

27 October 2020 3	Esteghlal	1 – 1	Shahrdari Astara	Tehran
14:50 IRST (UTC+03:30)	V. Ghafouri  80' (pen.)	Report	M. Rezapour  88' (pen.)	Stadium: Azadi Stadium

30 October 2020 4	Esteghlal	3 – 0	Chooka Talesh	Tehran
14:50 IRST (UTC+03:30)	S. Yazdani  57' F. Esmaeili  62' A. Rezavand  67'	Report		Stadium: Azadi Stadium

Competitions

Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Record
				Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Pro League	7 November 2020		—	3	2	0	1	4	2	+2	066.67
Hazfi Cup			Round of 32	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	—
AFC Champions League			Preliminary round 2	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	—
Total				3	2	0	1	4	2	+2	066.67

Last updated: 26 November 2020.

Source: Competitions

Persian Gulf Pro League

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Esteghlal	14	7	5	2	18	9	+9	26	Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage
2	Sepahan	14	7	4	3	23	18	+5	25	Qualification for AFC Champions League play-off round
3	Sanat Naft	14	6	5	3	15	11	+4	23
4	Persepolis	12	5	6	1	14	8	+6	21
5	Foolad	14	4	8	2	14	10	+4	20

Updated to match(es) played on 5 February 2021. Source: IPL Table, IranLeague
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[32]

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
3	2	0	1	4	2	+2	6	2	0	0	3	0	+3	0	0	1	1	2	−1

Last updated: 27 November 2020.
Source: Ipl Stats

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	W	L	W	D	D	W	D	D	W	W	W
Position	4	6	2	4	3	1	3	2	1	1	1

Updated to match(es) played on 2 December 2020. Source: "Ipl".
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed

Matches

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

7 November 2020 1	Esteghlal	2 – 0	Mes Rafsanjan	Tehran
16:30 IRST (UTC+03:30)	F. Bagheri  40' V. Ghafouri  58'  79' F. Esmaeili  65' A. Motahari  66' A. Rezavand  83'	Report	Gh. Eslamikhah  17' M. Aghajanpour  55' M. Zahedi  60'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Reza Jafari
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran, the match was played behind closed doors.

20 November 2020 2	Foolad	2 – 1	Esteghlal	Ahvaz
16:40 IRST (UTC+03:30)	F. Ahmadzadeh  66'  72' M. Coulibaly  79' M. Abshak  83' M. Derakhshan-Mehr  84' L. Pereira  90' (pen.)	Report	V. Ghafouri  63' (pen.) M. Rigi  86' A. Gholami  86' M. Moradmand  89'	Stadium: Foolad Arena Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Mohammad Hossein Zahedifar
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran, the match was played behind closed doors.

25 November 2020 3	Esteghlal	1 – 0	Machine Sazi	Tehran
16:15 IRST (UTC+03:30)	H. Milić  57'	Report	S. Sadeghi  84'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Ali Bye
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran, the match was played behind closed doors.

1 December 2020 4	Paykan	0 - 0	Esteghlal	Shahr-e Qods
16:15 IRST (UTC+03:30)				Stadium: Shahre Qods Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC)
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran, the match was played behind closed doors.

7 December 2020 5	Esteghlal	1 - 1	Sanat Naft	Tehran
16:15 IRST (UTC+03:30)		Report		Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC)
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran, the match was played behind closed doors.

13 December 2020 6	Shahr Khodro	0 - 2	Esteghlal	Mashhad
15:45 IRST (UTC+03:30)		Report		Stadium: Imam Reza Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC)
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran, the match was played behind closed doors.

18 December 2020 7	Zob Ahan	0 - 0	Esteghlal	Isfahan
15:45 IRST (UTC+03:30)				Stadium: Foolad Shahr Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC)

8	Esteghlal	v	Persepolis	Tehran
				Stadium: Azadi Stadium

30 December 2020 9	Gol Gohar	1 - 2	Esteghlal	Sirjan
16:20 IRST (UTC+03:30)	Ahmad Reza Zendeh Rouh  78' (pen.)		Voria Ghafouri  8' (pen.) Mehdi Ghayedi  14'	Stadium: Imam Ali Stadium

10	Esteghlal	v	Aluminium Arak	Tehran
				Stadium: Azadi Stadium

11	Tractor	v	Esteghlal	Tabriz
				Stadium: Yadegar-e Emam Stadium

12	Esteghlal	v	Saipa	Tehran
				Stadium: Azadi Stadium

13	Naft MIS	v	Esteghlal	Masjed Soleyman
				Stadium: Behnam Mohammadi Stadium

14	Esteghlal	v	Nassaji	Tehran
				Stadium: Azadi Stadium

15	Sepahan	v	Esteghlal	Isfahan
				Stadium: Naghsh-e-Jahan

16	Mes Rafsanjan	v	Esteghlal	Rafsanjan
				Stadium: Shohadaye Mes Rafsanjan Stadium

17	Esteghlal	v	Foolad	Tehran
				Stadium: Azadi Stadium

18	Machine Sazi	v	Esteghlal	Tabriz
				Stadium: Bonyan Diesel Stadium

19	Esteghlal	v	Paykan	Tehran
				Stadium: Azadi Stadium

20	Sanat Naft	v	Esteghlal	Abadan
				Stadium: Takhti Stadium

21	Esteghlal	v	Shahr Khodro	Tehran
				Stadium: Azadi Stadium

22	Esteghlal	v	Zob Ahan	Tehran
				Stadium: Azadi Stadium

23	Persepolis	v	Esteghlal	Tehran
				Stadium: Azadi Stadium

24	Esteghlal	v	Gol Gohar	Tehran
				Stadium: Azadi Stadium

25	Aluminium Arak	v	Esteghlal	Arak
				Stadium: Imam Khomeini Stadium

26	Esteghlal	v	Tractor	Tehran
				Stadium: Azadi Stadium

27	Saipa	v	Esteghlal	Tehran
				Stadium: Shahid Dastgerdi Stadium

28	Esteghlal	v	Naft MIS	Tehran
				Stadium: Azadi Stadium

29	Nassaji	v	Esteghlal	Qaem Shahr
				Stadium: Vatani Stadium

30	Esteghlal	v	Sepahan	Tehran
				Stadium: Azadi Stadium

Hazfi Cup

Round of 32

v

AFC Champions League

Qualifying play-off

Qualifying play-off

v

Statistics

Squad statistics

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Pro League		Hazfi Cup		ACL
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Hossein Hosseini	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF		Mohammad Naderi	6	0	6	0	0	0	0	0
3	DF		Mohammad Hossein Moradmand	10	0	10	0	0	0	0	0
4	DF		Siavash Yazdani	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
5	DF		Aref Gholami	9	0	9	0	0	0	0	0
6	MF		Masoud Rigi	9	0	9	0	0	0	0	0
7	FW		Cheick Diabaté	5	2	5	2	0	0	0	0
8	MF		Farshid Esmaeili	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
9	MF		Mehdi Mehdipour	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0
10	FW		Mehdi Ghayedi	11	4	11	4	0	0	0	0
11	MF		Dariush Shojaeian	7	0	7	0	0	0	0	0
12	GK		Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri	9	0	9	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF		Farshid Bagheri	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0
15	MF		Sina Khadempour	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	DF		Ahmad Mousavi	9	1	9	1	0	0	0	0
21	DF		Vouria Ghafouri	9	3	9	3	0	0	0	0
22	MF		Babak Moradi	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
27	DF		Matin Karimzadeh	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
33	DF		Hrvoje Milic	7	1	7	1	0	0	0	0
40	DF		Amir Hossein Khodamoradi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
42	DF		Fardin Rabet	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
70	DF		Mohammad Daneshgar	10	1	10	1	0	0	0	0
72	MF		Amir Arsalan Motahari	11	3	11	3	0	0	0	0
74	MF		Erfan Rouhani	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
78	MF		Alireza Ansari	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
79	MF		Sobhan Khaghani	4	1	4	1	0	0	0	0
80	MF		Ali Bakhshi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
88	MF		Arash Rezavand	10	0	10	0	0	0	0	0
99	FW		Sajjad Aghaei	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

Last updated: 21 November 2020
Source: Competitions

Goals

The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.

Rank	Player	Position	Pro League	Hazfi Cup	ACL	Total
1	Vouria Ghafouri	DF	2	0	0	2
2	Amir Arsalan Motahari	FW	2	0	0	2
	Hrvoje Milić	DF	1	0	0	1
Own goals			0	0	0	0
Total			4	0	0	4

Last updated: 26 November 2020.
Source: Competitive matches

Clean sheets

Rank	Name	Pro League	Hazfi Cup	ACL	Total
1	Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri	4	0	0	4
2	Hossein Hosseini	1	0	0	1
TOTALS		5	0	0	5

Last updated: 2 January 2021.
Source: Competitive matches

Disciplinary record

Includes all competitive matches. Players with 1 card or more are included only.

N	P	Nat.	Name	Pro League			Hazfi Cup			AFC CL			Total			Notes
3	DF		Mohammad Hossein Moradmand	1									1
5	DF		Aref Gholami	1									1
6	MF		Masoud Rigi	1									1
8	MF		Farshid Esmaeili	1									1
14	DF		Farshid Bagheri	1									1
21	MF		Vouria Ghafouri	1									1
88	MF		Arash Rezavand	2									2

Last updated: 21 November 2020
Source: Scoreway
Only competitive matches
= Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.

See also

• 2020–21 Persian Gulf Pro League
• 2020–21 Hazfi Cup
• 2021 AFC Champions League

References

1. "ESTEGHLAL FC". soccerway.
2. "جذب دو بازیکن جدید برای استقلال". تهران نیوز (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-07-11.
3. "توافق سه ساله استقلال با مدافع راست جوان". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-10-21.
4. "جذب دو بازیکن جدید برای استقلال". تهران نیوز (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-07-11.
5. "اضافه شدن یک مدافع و یک مهاجم جوان به استقلال". مهرنیوز (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-06-21.
6. "مهاجم ذوب آهن به استقلال برگشت". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-10-10.
7. "بمب اول ترکید؛ مظاهری در تور استقلال". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-09-06.
8. "رسمی؛ کریم زاده خرید جدید استقلال برای لیگ بیستم". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-09-08.
9. "مو فرفری لیگ برتر به استقلال پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-09-09.
10. "یک تراکتوری دیگر استقلالی شد". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-09-09.
11. "مرادمند رسما به استقلال پیوست (عکس)". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-09-10.
12. "رسمی؛ مهدی مهدی‌پور به استقلال پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-10-10.
13. "محمد نادری به استقلال پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-09-23.
14. "میکائیل شیخی به استقلال پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-11-04.
15. "استقلال با چهار بازیکن جوان قرارداد امضا کرد". ایسنا (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-11-04.
16. "روز شلوغ نقل و انتقالاتی استقلال در آستانه لیگ برتر". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-11-05.
17. "سبحان خاقانی به استقلال پیوست". خبرگزاری دانشجو (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-11-08.
18. "بودروف قراردادش را با استقلال فسخ کرد". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-04-02.
19. "عظیم گوک از استقلال به خط دفاع مس آمد". باشگاه فرهنگی ورزشی مس کرمان (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-09-16.
20. "محسن کریمی خرید جدید گل گهر". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-09-28.
21. "روزبه چشمی با ام صلال به توافق رسید". خبرگزاری دانشجو (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-09-28.
22. "عارف غلامپور بازیکن ریزنقش و جنگنده استقلال تهران به فولاد خوزستان پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-10-06.
23. "وینگر استقلال به ذوب‌آهن پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-10-13.
24. "بلبلی به نفت مسجد سلیمان پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-10-20.
25. "علی کریمی به جای «بشار رسن» به تیم فوتبال القطر پیوست". خبرگزاری مهر (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-10-28.
26. "میلاد زکی‌پور به گل‌گهر پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-11-03.
27. "خرید جدید تراکتور؛ چپ پای تکنیکی از پایه های استقلال". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-11-04.
28. "میکائیل شیخی به استقلال پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-11-04.
29. "مهاجم استقلال راهی ملوان شد". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-11-18.
30. "طاهرخانی از استقلال و پرسپولیس به پیکان رفت". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-11-18.
31. "مرتضی تبریزی رسماً به گل گهر سیرجان پیوست". خبرورزشی (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-01-09.
32. "Persian Gulf Pro League/2020-21". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 7 November 2020.

External links

• Iran Premier League Statistics
• Persian League