2019–20 Esteghlal F.C. season

Esteghlal F.C.

2019–20 season
President	Amirhossein Fathi (until 10 December 2019)[1] Esmaeil Khalilzadeh (from 10 December 2019 until 26 February 2020)[2] Ali Fatollahzadeh (from 26 February 2020 until 30 March 2020)[3] Ahmad Saadatmand (from 30 March 2020)[4]
Head coach	Andrea Stramaccioni (until 8 December 2019) Voria Ghafouri (caretaker) (from 9 december 2019 until 2 January 2020)[5] Farhad Majidi (from 2 January 2020 until 3 September 2020) Majid Namjoo-Motlagh (from 6 September 2020)
Stadium	Azadi Stadium
Pro League	2nd
Hazfi Cup	Runners-up
AFC Champions League	Round of 16
Top goalscorer	League: Cheick Diabaté (15) All: Cheick Diabaté (19)
Highest home attendance	65,000 (vs Shahr Khodro, 5 December 2019)
Lowest home attendance	9,000 (vs Naft MIS, 2 February 2020)
Biggest win	Esteghlal 5–0 Sanat Naft Al-Rayyan 0–5 Esteghlal
Biggest defeat	Esteghlal 1–2 Machine Sazi Al-Ahli 2–1 Esteghlal
Home colours Away colours Third colours

The 2019–20 season is the Esteghlal Football Club's 19th season in the Iran Pro League, and their 26th consecutive season in the top division of Iranian football. They also competed in the Hazfi Cup, and 74th year in existence as a football club.

Players

First team squad

Last updated: 2 February 2020 (2020-02-02)

No.	Name	Nat	Position	Date of Birth (Age)	Since	End	Signed from
Goalkeepers
1	Hossein Hosseini		GK	(1992-06-30)30 June 1992 (aged 27)	2012	2021	Youth Sector
19	Hossein Pour Hamidi		GK	(1998-03-26)26 March 1998 (aged 21)	2019	2022	Esteghlal Khuzestan
78	Alireza Ansari		GK	(2000-02-06)6 February 2000 (aged 19)	2019	2020	Youth Sector
Defenders
3	Milad Zakipour		LB / LM	(1995-11-23)23 November 1995 (aged 24)	2016	2021	Naft Tehran
4	Roozbeh Cheshmi		CB / DM	(1993-07-24)24 July 1993 (aged 26)	2015	2020	Saba Qom
5	Aref Gholami		CB / RB / LB	(1997-04-19)19 April 1997 (aged 22)	2019	2021	Foolad
21	Vouria Ghafouri		RB / RW	(1987-09-20)20 September 1987 (aged 32)	2016	2021	Sepahan
22	Siavash Yazdani		CB	(1992-03-02)2 March 1992 (aged 27)	2019	2021	Sepahan
30	Azim Gök		CB / LB	(1996-01-25)25 January 1996 (aged 23)	2016	2021	Youth Sector
32	Amirhossein Kargar		RB	(1998-11-22)22 November 1998 (aged 21)	2018	2021	Youth Sector
33	Hrvoje Milić		LB / LM	(1989-05-10)10 May 1989 (aged 30)	2019	2021	Crotone
41	Arash Dajliri		RB	(1999-01-19)19 January 1999 (aged 20)	2020		Youth Sector
57	Shahin Taherkhani		CB	(1997-01-07)7 January 1997 (aged 22)	2018	2021	Youth Sector
70	Mohammad Daneshgar		CB	(1994-01-20)20 January 1994 (aged 25)	2018	2020	Saipa
Midfielders
6	Ali Karimi		CM / DM	(1994-02-11)11 February 1994 (aged 25)	2018	2020	Sepahan
8	Farshid Esmaeili		AM / LW / RW	(1994-02-23)23 February 1994 (aged 25)	2015	2020	Fajr Sepasi
9	Ali Dashti		RW / SS	(1994-01-18)18 January 1994 (aged 25)	2018	2021	Saipa
14	Farshid Bagheri		DM / CM	(1992-06-05)5 June 1992 (aged 27)	2016	2020	Saba Qom
15	Sina Khadempour		DM / CM / CB	(1997-01-09)9 January 1997 (aged 22)	2017	2022	Naft Tehran
23	Dariush Shojaeian		AM / RW / LW	(1992-04-07)7 April 1992 (aged 27)	2017	2020	Gostaresh Foulad
28	Mohsen Karimi		LW / RW / SS	(1994-09-20)20 September 1994 (aged 25)	2014	2020	Youth Sector
40	Amir Hossein Khodamoradi		AM	(2000-09-13)13 September 2000 (aged 19)	2020	2024	Youth Sector
66	Masoud Rigi		DM / CM	(1991-02-22)22 February 1991 (aged 28)	2019	2021	Shahr Khodro
77	Reza Azari		DM / CM / AM	(1998-02-10)10 February 1998 (aged 21)	2018	2023	Youth Sector
80	Mohammad Bolboli		LW	(1998-01-11)11 January 1998 (aged 21)	2019	2023	Sepidrood
88	Arash Rezavand		AM / CM	(1993-10-05)5 October 1993 (aged 26)	2019	2021	Saipa
Forwards
7	Cheick Diabaté		CF / SS	(1988-04-25)25 April 1988 (aged 31)	2019	2021	Osmanlıspor
10	Mehdi Ghayedi		SS / RW / LW	(1998-12-05)5 December 1998 (aged 21)	2017	2023	Iranjavan
11	Morteza Tabrizi		CF / LW	(1991-01-06)6 January 1991 (aged 28)	2018	2020	Zob Ahan
17	Zakaria Moradi		CF / RW	(1998-08-14)14 August 1998 (aged 21)	2019	2023	Youth Sector
72	Amir Arsalan Motahari		CF / RW	(1993-03-10)10 March 1993 (aged 26)	2020	2021	Zob Ahan
Players transferred during the season
99	Sajjad Aghaei		CF / LW / RW	(1999-03-19)19 March 1999 (aged 20)	2017	2022	Youth Sector
20	Nikolay Bodurov		CB	(1986-05-30)30 May 1986 (aged 33)	2020	2021	Unattached

Transfers

Main articles: List of Iranian football transfers summer 2019 and List of Iranian football transfers winter 2019–20

In

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Moving from	Type	Transfer window	Ends	Source
—			Hamed Bakhshi	18	Peykan	Transfer	Summer		[6]
80	LW		Mohammad Bolboli	21	Sepidrood	Transfer	Summer	2023	[7]
9	RW		Ali Dashti	25	Saipa	Transfer	Summer	2021	[8]
44	CB		Milad Bagheri	23	Mes Kerman	Transfer	Summer	2022	[9]
22	CB		Siavash Yazdani	27	Sepahan	Transfer	Summer	2021	[10]
66	DM		Masoud Rigi	28	Shahr Khodro	Transfer	Summer	2021	[11]
15	DM		Sina Khadempour	22	Gol Gohar	End of loan	Summer	2022
70	RW		Mohammad Javad Mohammadi	23	Arvand Karun	End of loan	Summer	2022
80	RW		Mohammad Dehghan Nejad	19	Saipa	Transfer	Winter	2020
88	AM		Arash Rezavand	25	Saipa	Transfer	Summer	2021	[12]
7	CF		Cheick Diabaté	31	Osmanlıspor	Transfer	Summer	2021	[13]
38	CM		Ali Tari	18	Zob Ahan	Transfer	Summer	2024
5	CB		Aref Gholami	22	Foolad	Transfer	Summer	2021	[14]
—	GK		Erfan Khalili	19	Niroo Zamini	Transfer	Summer	2020
19	GK		Hossein Pour Hamidi	21	Esteghlal Khuzestan	Transfer	Summer	2022
33	LB		Hrvoje Milić	30	Crotone	Transfer	Summer	2021	[15]
—	LW		Hossein Bijani	16	Foolad	Transfer	Summer	2022	[16]
30	CB		Azim Gök	23	Malavan	End of loan	Winter	2021
72	CF		Amir Arsalan Motahari	26	Zob Ahan	Transfer	Winter	2021	[17]
20	CB		Nikolay Bodurov	33	Unattached	Transfer	Winter	2021	[18]

Out

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Moving to	Type	Transfer window	Source
—	GK		Sasan Zamaneh	20	Persepolis	Transfer	Summer	[19]
—	GK		Parsa Jafari	19	Saipa	Transfer	Summer	[20]
2	RB		Khosro Heydari	35	Retired	End of contract	Summer	[21]
1	GK		Mehdi Rahmati	36	Shahr Khodro	End of contract	Summer	[22]
—	GK		Mohammad Javad Kia	17	Shahr Khodro	Transfer	Summer	[23]
44	RB		Farshad Mohammadi	24	Shahr Khodro	Transfer	Summer	[24]
12	LB		Meysam Teymouri	26	Tractor Sazi	Transfer	Summer	[25]
5	AM		Ayanda Patosi	26	Cape Town	Loan return	Summer
26	CF		Fardin Najafi	21	Oghab Tehran	Loan	Summer
30	DM		Omid Noorafkan	22	Charleroi	Loan return	Summer	[26]
16	RW		Allahyar Sayyadmanesh	18	Fenerbahçe	Transfer	Summer	[27]
29	LB		Amirhossein Esmaeilzadeh	19	Pars Jonoubi	Transfer	Summer	[28]
88	RW		Reza Karimi	20	Unattached	Released	Summer
90	CF		Godwin Mensha	29	Ajman	Transfer	Summer	[29]
—	LW		Ahmadreza Ahmadvand	20	Persepolis	Transfer	Summer	[30]
13	LB		Armin Sohrabian	23	Saipa	Transfer	Summer
10	CF		Rouhollah Bagheri	28	Shahr Khodro	Transfer	Summer
27	AM		Hossein Heydari	20	Qashqai	Transfer	Summer
70	RW		Mohammad Javad Mohammadi	23	Sorkhpooshan	Transfer	Summer
43	LB		Amirhossein Pourmohammad	21	Sorkhpooshan	Transfer	Summer
17	LW		Humam Tariq	23	Ismaily	Transfer	Summer
33	CB		Pejman Montazeri	35	Al Kharitiyat	End of contract	Summer
38	CF		Meraj Pourtaghi	21	Damash Gilan	Transfer	Summer
22	GK		Mehdi Nourollahi	22	Saipa	Transfer	Summer	[31]
20	CF		Esmaël Gonçalves	28	Matsumoto Yamaga	Transfer	Summer	[32]
44	CB		Milad Bagheri	24	Pars Jonoubi	Transfer	Winter	[33]
98	RW		Morteza Aghakhan	26	Saipa	Transfer	Winter	[34]
99	CF		Sajjad Aghaei	20	Zob Ahan	Loan	Winter	[35]

Pre-season and friendlies

Esteghlal v Esteghlal B

30 June 2019 (2019-06-30) 1	Esteghlal	5 – 0	Esteghlal B	Tehran
19:15 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	M. Tabrizi 8 (pen.)', 38' R. Bagheri 16' A. Dashti 64' M. Bolboli	Report

Esteghlal v Niroo Zamini

4 July 2019 (2019-07-04) 2	Esteghlal	1 – 1	Niroo Zamini	Tehran
18:40 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	D. Shojaeian 9'	Report	A. Akvan 45'

Esteghlal v Heartland

11 July 2019 (2019-07-11) 3	Esteghlal	5 – 0	Heartland	Turkey
18:00 TRT (UTC+03:00)	M. Zakipour 18' S. Aghaei 20', 39' M. Tabrizi 59' A. Dashti 65'	Report

Esteghlal v Petrolul Ploiești

17 July 2019 (2019-07-17) 4	Esteghlal	3 – 1	Petrolul Ploiești	Turkey
18:00 TRT (UTC+03:00)	S. Aghaei 22' D. Shojaeian 63' A. Dashti 75'	Report	12'

Esteghlal v Baadraan Tehran

25 July 2019 (2019-07-25) 5	Esteghlal	4 – 2	Baadraan Tehran	Tehran
18:30 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	Diabate 34' Esmaeili 40' Tabrizi 66' F.Bagheri 70'	Report	Vakili 10' Ebrahimi 12'

Esteghlal v Machine Sazi

1 August 2019 (2019-08-01) 6	Esteghlal	4 – 0	Machine Sazi	Tehran
18:30 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	Shojaeian 26' Esmaeili 30' Daneshgar 50' Dashti 90'

Esteghlal v Esteghlal U-20

5 August 2019 (2019-08-05) 7	Esteghlal	4 – 0	Esteghlal U-20	Tehran
18:30 IRDT (UTC+04:30)

Esteghlal v Paykan

12 August 2019 (2019-08-12) 8	Esteghlal	0–2	Paykan	Tehran
18:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)

Esteghlal v Oghab

15 August 2019 (2019-08-15) 9	Esteghlal	5–0	Oghab	Tehran
09:30 IRDT (UTC+04:30)

Competitions

Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Pro League	22 August 2019	20 August 2020	Matchday 1	2nd	30	14	11	5	55	31	+24	046.67
Hazfi Cup	30 September 2019	3 September 2020	Round of 32	Runners-up	5	3	1	1	12	6	+6	060.00
AFC Champions League	21 January 2020	26 September 2020	Preliminary round 2	Round of 16	7	3	2	2	15	6	+9	042.86
Total					42	20	14	8	82	43	+39	047.62

Last updated: 27 September 2020 (2020-09-27).
Source: Competitions

Persian Gulf Pro League

Main article: 2019–20 Persian Gulf Pro League

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
30	14	11	5	55	31	+24	53	8	5	2	25	12	+13	6	6	3	30	19	+11

Last updated: 21 August 2020 (2020-08-21).
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	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A
Result	L	D	D	L	D	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	D	W	L	L	W	D	W	L	D	L	D	W	D	W	D	D	W
Position	12	12	11	15	14	11	8	7	7	4	3	3	1	2	2	5	5	4	4	3	4	5	4	5	2	2	2	2	2	2

Updated to match(es) played on 21 August 2020 (2020-08-21). Source: "Ipl".
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Persepolis (C)	30	21	4	5	46	17	+29	67	Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League group stage
2	Esteghlal	30	14	11	5	55	31	+24	53
3	Foolad	30	14	9	7	28	19	+9	51	Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs
4	Tractor	30	14	8	8	31	23	+8	50	Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League group stage[a]
5	Sepahan	30	12	13	5	39	22	+17	49

Source: IPL Table, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.^[36]
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Tractor qualified to AFC Champions League group stage directly by winning the Hazfi Cup

Matches

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed/Cancelled

Machine Sazi v Esteghlal

23 August 2019 (2019-08-23) 1	Machine Sazi	1 – 0	Esteghlal	Tabriz
18:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	Sh. Saghebi  13' M. Khorram  33' H. Lak  81' A. Zarei 90+5'	Report	A. Karimi  19' F. Esmaeili  55' Ch. Diabaté  78' M. Daneshgar  90+3'	Stadium: Bonyan Diesel Stadium Attendance: 3,700 Referee: Payam Heydari

Esteghlal v Foolad

29 August 2019 (2019-08-29) 2	Esteghlal	1 – 1	Foolad	Tehran
19:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	F. Esmaeili 49' Ch. Diabaté  77' A. Dashti  90' H. Hosseini  90+3'	Report	Sh. Gordan  19' A. Bagherpour 90+5'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Alireza Faghani

Naft MIS v Esteghlal

15 September 2019 (2019-09-15) 3	Naft MIS	1 – 1	Esteghlal	Masjed Soleyman
19:45 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	H. Noormohammadi 70' A. Alizadeh  76'	Report	F. Esmaeili  10'  87' M. Ghayedi 16'	Stadium: Behnam Mohammadi Stadium Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Mohammadreza Akbarian

Esteghlal v Persepolis

22 September 2019 (2019-09-22) 4	Esteghlal	0 – 1	Persepolis	Tehran
16:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)	A. Karimi 28'  30'  89' M. Tabrizi  42' D. Shojaeian  75' A. Gholami  90+4'	Report	H. Kanaanizadegan  42' H. Hosseini 81' (o.g.) F. Ahmadzadeh  90+3' S. Nemati  90+4'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 58,000 Referee: Mouood Bonyadifar
Note: 91st Tehran derby

Zob Ahan v Esteghlal

26 September 2019 (2019-09-26) 5	Zob Ahan	2 – 2	Esteghlal	Isfahan
18:30 IRST (UTC+03:30)	M. Nejadmehdi  32' D. Esmaeilifar 73' A. Motahari 90+1'	Report	M. Daneshgar  87' D. Shojaeian 67' F. Esmaeili 89'	Stadium: Foolad Shahr Stadium Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Bijan Heydari

Esteghlal v Gol Gohar

4 October 2019 (2019-10-04) 6	Esteghlal	2 – 1	Gol Gohar	Tehran
16:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)	H. Milić 6' M. Ghayedi 49' A. Rezavand  87'	Report	B. Barzay 11' (pen.) M. Farahani  42'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Hassan Akrami

Saipa v Esteghlal

21 October 2019 (2019-10-21) 7	Saipa	0 – 4	Esteghlal	Shahr-e Qods
16:45 IRST (UTC+03:30)	M. Soleimani  45'	Report	A. Gholami 9' D. Shojaeian  22' Daneshgar 50' V. Ghafouri 68' (pen.) S. Aghaei 89'	Stadium: Shahr-e Qods Stadium Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Ashkan Khorshidi

Esteghlal v Pars Jonoubi

25 October 2019 (2019-10-25) 8	Esteghlal	2 – 0	Pars Jonoubi	Tehran
19:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)	A. Karimi 28' M. Zakipour  36' M. Ghayedi 45' M. Tabrizi  90'	Report	F. Gerami  87' A. Abdollahzadeh  88'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Seyed Reza Mahdavi

Tractor v Esteghlal

1 November 2019 (2019-11-01) 9	Tractor	2 – 4	Esteghlal	Tabriz
18:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)	M.R. Azadi 20' W. Mimbela  67' S. Ansari 79'	Report	Ch. Diabaté 40', 65', 69' M. Rigi  82' A. Karimi 84'	Stadium: Yadegar-e Emam Stadium Attendance: 80,000 Referee: Bijan Heydari

Esteghlal v Sanat Naft

5 November 2019 (2019-11-05) 10	Esteghlal	5 – 0	Sanat Naft	Tehran
15:30 IRST (UTC+03:30)	Ch. Diabaté  5' 20' M. Daneshgar 9' M. Ghayedi 26' V. Ghafouri 30' H. Milić 72'	Report	N. Salari  20' M. Hanafi  71'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Mohammad Hossein Zahedifar

Nassaji v Esteghlal

25 November 2019 (2019-11-25) 11	Nassaji	1 – 2	Esteghlal	Qaem Shahr
15:30 IRST (UTC+03:30)	M. Abbaszadeh 61' M. Nazari  64' R. Aliyari  72'	Report	M. Rigi  6' A. Karimi 33' M. Ghayedi 49' A. Dashti  75'	Stadium: Vatani Stadium Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Ali Safaei

Sepahan v Esteghlal

30 November 2019 (2019-11-30) 12	Sepahan	2 – 2	Esteghlal	Isfahan
15:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)	G. Gvelesiani 14' S. Shahbazzadeh  60' O. Noorafkan 90+5'	Report	M. Ghayedi 33' Ch. Diabaté 49'	Stadium: Naghsh-e Jahan Stadium Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Mohammad Hossein Zahedifar

Esteghlal v Shahr Khodro

5 December 2019 (2019-12-05) 13	Esteghlal	1 – 0	Shahr Khodro	Tehran
15:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)	Ch. Diabaté  37' 61' A. Gholami  45+2' A. Dashti  85'	Report	A. Ghaseminejad  21'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 65,000 Referee: Ashkan Khorshidi

Paykan v Esteghlal

9 December 2019 (2019-12-09) 14	Paykan	2 – 2	Esteghlal	Tehran
17:30 IRST (UTC+03:30)	M. Mousavi  18' F. Emamali  23' 33' Sh. Moghanlou  24' 44' H. Pour-Amini 90+4'	Report	M. Ghayedi 9' V. Ghafouri 59' R. Cheshmi  74'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Mouood Bonyadifar

Esteghlal v Shahin Bushehr

14 December 2019 (2019-12-14) 15	Esteghlal	4 – 1	Shahin Bushehr	Tehran
15:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)	A. Rezavand 29' M. Ghayedi 52' M. Daneshgar 58' H. Milić  64' Ch. Diabaté 69'	Report	A. Safarzadeh  35' M.S. Barani  62' H. Maleki 87'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Ali Bay

Esteghlal v Machine Sazi

19 December 2019 (2019-12-19) 16	Esteghlal	1 – 2	Machine Sazi	Tehran
17:30 IRST (UTC+03:30)	M. Rigi  22' Ch. Diabaté 23' V. Ghafouri  37' M. Daneshgar  45+3' R. Cheshmi  50' A. Rezavand  64'	Report	M. Ghaderi 34' A. Alekasir  38' H. Lak  45+3' A. Zendehrouh 52' (pen.) F. Abedini  90+1'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 15,010 Referee: Seyyed Vahid Kazemi

Foolad v Esteghlal

24 June 2020 (2020-06-24) 17	Foolad	2 – 1	Esteghlal	Ahvaz
21:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	M. Coulibaly 27' F. Ahmadzadeh  48' M. Najjarian 80' L. Pereira  86' Z. Niknafs  88'	Report	R. Cheshmi 12' A. Karimi  45' A. Gholami  54'  65' M. Ghayedi  72'	Stadium: Foolad Arena Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Seyyed Mehdi Seyyad Ali
Note: The match was postponed and rescheduled to 24 June. The match was played behind closed doors.

Esteghlal v Naft MIS

2 February 2020 (2020-02-02) 18	Esteghlal	2 – 1	Naft MIS	Tehran
17:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)	M. Ghayedi 35' A. Motahari 51'	Report	A. Ghasemi 20' S. Sadeghi  32' H. Noormohammadi  67' M. Eydi  85'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Hamid Haj-Malek

Persepolis v Esteghlal

6 February 2020 (2020-02-06) 19	Persepolis	2 – 2	Esteghlal	Tehran
15:30 IRST (UTC+03:30)	A. Alipour 29'  30' C. Osaguona  55' B. Resan 89'	Report	A. Motahari 24', 52'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 56,780 Referee: Bijan Heydari Man of the Match: Amir Arsalan Motahari
Note: 92nd Tehran derby

Esteghlal v Zob Ahan

23 February 2020 (2020-02-23) 20	Esteghlal	2 – 1	Zob Ahan	Tehran
18:30 IRST (UTC+03:30)	A. Dashti  8' M. Daneshgar 29' V. Ghafouri 52'	Report	D. Bjedov 49' E. Pahlevan  63' Gh. Haddadifar  90+1' M. Haghdoost  90+2'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Payam Heydari
Note: No spectator due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Gol Gohar v Esteghlal

27 February 2020 (2020-02-27) 21	Gol Gohar	1 – 0	Esteghlal	Sirjan
16:00 IRST (UTC+03:30)	A. Ebrahimi 61'	Report		Stadium: Gol Gohar Sport Complex Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Mohammadreza Akbarian
Note: No spectator due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Esteghlal v Saipa

29 June 2020 (2020-06-29) 22	Esteghlal	1 – 1	Saipa	Tehran
21:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	M. Daneshgar  54' M. Rigi 70'	Report	Kh. Shafiei  27' F. Bagheri 45' (o.g.) H.Fallahzadeh  90+1'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Payam Heydari
Note: The match was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled to 29 June. The match was played behind closed doors.

Pars Jonoubi v Esteghlal

27 July 2020 (2020-07-27) 23	Pars Jonoubi	0 – 2	Esteghlal	Jam
20:30 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	F. Gerami  55'  90+4' M. Nouri 81'	Report	A. Karimi 26' A. Rezavand  46' Ch. Diabaté 62' H. Hosseini  80'	Stadium: Takhti Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Payam Heydari
Note: The match was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled to 27 July. The match was played behind closed doors.

Esteghlal v Tractor

11 July 2020 (2020-07-11) 24	Esteghlal	0 – 0	Tractor	Tehran
21:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	A. Dashti  2' A. Rezavand  53' M. Zakipour  81' M. Rigi  85'	Report	A. Imani  53'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Hassan Akrami
Note: The match was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled to 11 July. The match was played behind closed doors.

Sanat Naft v Esteghlal

17 July 2020 (2020-07-17) 25	Sanat Naft	0 – 2	Esteghlal	Abadan
21:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	M. Ahmadi  28'	Report	Ch. Diabaté 30' A. Rezavand  36' A. Motahari 90+5'	Stadium: Takhti Abadan Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Ashkan Khorshidi
Note: The match was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled to 17 July. The match was played behind closed doors.

Esteghlal v Nassaji

23 July 2020 (2020-07-23) 26	Esteghlal	1 – 1	Nassaji	Tehran
21:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	M. Rigi  11' Ch. Diabaté 40' (pen.) F. Bagheri  64'	Report	H. Mahini  45' M. Miri 66' R. Jafari  90'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Reza Kermanshahi
Note: The match was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled to 23 July. The match was played behind closed doors.

Esteghlal v Sepahan

1 August 2020 (2020-08-01) 27	Esteghlal	2 – 1	Sepahan	Tehran
21:30 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	A. Rezavand  38'  44' V. Ghafouri  42' Ch. Diabaté 52' (pen.) Sh. Mosleh 65' (o.g.)	Report	O. Noorafkan  42' Sh. Mosleh  51' M. Mohebi 82'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Bijan Heydari
Note: The match was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled to 1 August. The match was played behind closed doors.

Shahr Khodro v Esteghlal

6 August 2020 (2020-08-06) 28	Shahr Khodro	2 – 2	Esteghlal	Mashhad
20:00 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	H. Mehraban 35' A. Sadeghi  36' A. Nemati  67' M.R. Khalatbari 74'  81' H. Moradmand  90+4'	Report	A. Motahari 55' Ch. Diabaté 70' (pen.) A. Karimi  79' M. Ghayedi  83'	Stadium: Imam Reza Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Vahid Kazemi[37]
Note: The match was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled to 6 August. The match was played behind closed doors.

Esteghlal v Paykan

15 August 2020 (2020-08-15) 29	Esteghlal	1 – 1	Paykan	Tehran
20:45 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	A. Karimi 37'	Report	F. Emamali 23'  58' A. Karimi  27'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Payam Heydari
Note: The match was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled to 15 August. The match was played behind closed doors.

Shahin Bushehr v Esteghlal

20 August 2020 (2020-08-20) 30	Shahin Bushehr	1 – 4	Esteghlal	Bushehr
20:45 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	M. Sarlak 24' A. Mousazadeh  28' A. Darvishvand  47' S. Bahrani  90+4'	Report	V. Ghafouri 47' Ch. Diabaté 65', 82' M. Ghayedi 72'	Stadium: Shahid Beheshti Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Aliasghar Momeni
Note: The match was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled to 20 August. The match was played behind closed doors.

Hazfi Cup

Main article: 2019–20 Hazfi Cup

Round of 32

Gol Reyhan v Esteghlal

30 September 2019 (2019-09-30) Round of 32	Gol Reyhan	1 – 3 (a.e.t.)	Esteghlal	Karaj
18:15 IRST (UTC+03:30)	K. Mirzaei  30' M. Papi 38'  112' M. Mehrazma  75'	Report	A. Dashti  25' H. Divsalar 43' (o.g.) M. Tabrizi 56' S. Aghaei 93' M. Daneshgar  98' A. Karimi  110' F. Esmaeili 113'	Stadium: Enghelab Stadium Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Seyed Mehdi Seyed Ali

Round of 16

Esteghlal v Fajr Sepasi

17 October 2019 (2019-10-17) Round of 16	Esteghlal	3 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Fajr Sepasi	Tehran
16:50 IRST (UTC+03:30)	F. Esmaeili  63' V. Ghafouri 112' S. Aghaei 118' D. Shojaeian 120'	Report	M. Gharibi  56'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Payam Heydari

Quarter-final

Esteghlal v Sepahan

10 August 2020 (2020-08-10) Quarter-Final	Esteghlal	2 – 0	Sepahan	Tehran
20:30 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	M. Rigi  28' V. Ghafouri 45' (pen.) A. Karimi 61' H. Hosseini  66'	Report	Sh. Mosleh  33' Kiros Stanlley  40' M.R. Hosseini  90+3'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Mouood Bonyadifar
Note: The remainder of the competition, held in August 2020, will be played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran.

Semi-final

Persepolis v Esteghlal

26 August 2020 (2020-08-26) Semi-Final	Persepolis	2 – 2 (a.e.t.) (1-4 p)	Esteghlal	Tehran
20:30 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	S. Nemati  45' B. Resan 49' A. Alipour 88' Sh. Khalilzadeh  117' M. Torabi  120'	Report	M. Ghayedi 4' M. Daneshgar 90+3' A. Gholami  114'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Payam Heydari
	Penalties
	A. Nourollahi O. Alishah Ch. Osaguona		Ch. Diabaté V. Ghafouri H. Milić A. Motahari
Note: 1. 93th Tehran derby 2. The remainder of the competition, held in August 2020, will be played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran.

Final

Esteghlal v Tractor

3 September 2020 (2020-09-03) Final	Esteghlal	2 – 3	Tractor	Mashhad
18:15 IRDT (UTC+04:30)	M. Ghayedi 51' F. Esmaeili  88' A. Motahari 79'	Report	M. Teymouri  7' M. Khanzadeh 17' A. Dejagah 34' A. Imani  38' A. Imani 41' S. Ansari  53' E. Hajsafi  90+2'	Stadium: Imam Reza Stadium Attendance: 0 (NC) Referee: Mouood Bonyadifar
Note: The remainder of the competition, held in August 2020, will be played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran.

AFC Champions League

Main article: 2020 AFC Champions League

Qualifying play-off

Main article: 2020 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs

Preliminary

Esteghlal v Al-Kuwait

25 January 2020 (2020-01-25) Preliminary round	Esteghlal	3 – 0	Al-Kuwait	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
18:20 UTC+4	M. Rigi  19' Ch. Diabaté 27', 54' V. Ghafouri 59' A. Karimi  76' Sh. Taherkhani  77'	Live Report Stats Report	F. Hamoud  39' A. Abbas  44' Bismark  53' Y. Al-Khobizi  63'	Stadium: Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium Referee: Nazmi Nasaruddin (Malaysia)

Play-off

Al-Rayyan v Esteghlal

28 January 2020 (2020-01-28) Play-off round	Al-Rayyan	0 – 5	Esteghlal	Doha, Qatar
18:15 UTC+3	K. Muftah  56' A. El-Sayed  57' F. Younis  83' A. Hatem  87'	Report	Ch. Diabaté 8' M. Ghayedi 40', 47' M. Daneshgar  83' A. Motahari 84', 90+1' A. Rezavand  87'	Stadium: Jassim bin Hamad Stadium Referee: Minoru Tojo (Japan)

Group stage

Main article: 2020 AFC Champions League group stage

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AHL	EST	SHO	WAH
1	Al-Ahli	4	2	0	2	4	6	−2	6	Advance to knockout stage		—	2–1	1–0	20 Sep
2	Esteghlal	4	1	2	1	6	4	+2	5			3–0	—	1–1	17 Sep
3	Al-Shorta	4	1	2	1	4	4	0	5			2–1	1–1	—	0–1
4	Al-Wahda	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew[a]		1–1	14 Sep	23 Sep	—

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:

1. Al-Wahda were unable to travel to Qatar to play the final four matches of the group stage due to several team members testing positive for COVID-19.^[38] They were considered to have withdrawn from the competition, and all previous matches played by them shall be considered "null and void" and would not be considered in determining the final group rankings.^[39]

Al-Shorta v Esteghlal

10 February 2020 (2020-02-10) 1	Al-Shorta	1 – 1	Esteghlal	Erbil, Iraq
17:30 UTC+3	A. Faez 48' (pen.)	Live Report Stats Report	A. Rezavand  4' H. Kadhim 24' (o.g.)	Stadium: Franso Hariri Stadium Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)

Al-Ahli v Esteghlal

17 February 2020 (2020-02-17) 2	Al-Ahli	2 – 1	Esteghlal	Kuwait City, Kuwait
18:30 UTC+3	Al-Moasher 17' (pen.), 29' M. Al-Majhad  27' A. Al-Asmari  34' A. Hindi  52' Y. Belaïli  90+1'	Live Report Stats Report	R. Cheshmi  1' Motahari 22'	Stadium: Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium Attendance: 6,740 Referee: Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea)
Note: Matches between teams from Iran and Saudi Arabia will be played on neutral venues due to deterioration of Iran–Saudi Arabia relations.

Al-Wahda v Esteghlal

14 September 2020 (2020-09-14) 3	Al-Wahda	Cancelled	Esteghlal	Doha, Qatar
21:00 UTC+3		Live Report Stats Report		Stadium: Khalifa International Stadium

Esteghlal v Al-Wahda

17 September 2020 (2020-09-17) 4	Esteghlal	Cancelled	Al-Wahda	Doha, Qatar
21:00 UTC+3		Live Report Stats Report		Stadium: Khalifa International Stadium

Esteghlal v Al-Shorta

20 September 2020 (2020-09-20) 5	Esteghlal	1 – 1	Al-Shorta	Doha, Qatar
21:00 UTC+3	A. Rezavand  16' H. Milić  32' V. Ghafouri  36' A. Motahari 68'	Live Report Stats Report	M. Fayyadh 26' M. Hussein  28' S. Abdul-Amir  89' S. Zamil  90+3'	Stadium: Khalifa International Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea)

Esteghlal v Al-Ahli

23 September 2020 (2020-09-23) 6	Esteghlal	3 – 0	Al-Ahli	Al Wakrah, Qatar
18:00 UTC+3	M. Ghayedi 29' H. Milić  30' A. Karimi 38' Ch. Diabaté 54'	Live Report Stats Report	H. Abdulghani  49'	Stadium: Al Janoub Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

Knockout stage

Main article: 2020 AFC Champions League knockout stage

Round of 16

Pakhtakor v Esteghlal

26 September 2020 (2020-09-26) Round of 16	Pakhtakor	2 – 1	Esteghlal	Al Wakrah, Qatar
20:45 UTC+3	E. Krimets  5' D. Ćeran 43' E. Derdiyok 47' E. Suyunov  84' F. Sayfiev  89'	Live Report Stats Report	A. Motahari  4' A. Karimi 32' M. Daneshgar  74' A. Rezavand  77' M. Zakipour  87' M. Ghayedi  90+2'	Stadium: Al Janoub Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

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	42	0	30	0	5	0	7	0
3	DF		Milad Zakipour	27	0	17	0	5	0	5	0
4	DF		Roozbeh Cheshmi	31	1	22	1	3	0	6	0
5	DF		Aref Gholami	29	1	21	1	5	0	3	0
6	MF		Ali Karimi	37	8	27	5	4	1	6	2
7	FW		Cheick Diabaté	28	19	21	15	2	0	5	4
8	MF		Farshid Esmaeili	29	3	22	2	4	1	3	0
9	FW		Ali Dashti	17	0	14	0	1	0	2	0
10	MF		Mehdi Ghayedi	41	15	30	10	5	2	6	3
11	FW		Morteza Tabrizi	16	0	11	0	2	0	3	0
14	MF		Farshid Bagheri	21	0	15	0	1	0	5	0
15	MF		Sina Khadempour	5	0	4	0	1	0	0	0
17	FW		Zakaria Moradi	5	0	2	0	0	0	3	0
21	DF		Vouria Ghafouri	39	8	29	5	4	2	6	1
22	DF		Siavash Yazdani	14	0	12	0	2	0	0	0
23	MF		Dariush Shojaeian	9	2	7	1	2	1	0	0
28	MF		Mohsen Karimi	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
32	DF		Amirhossein Kargar	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
33	DF		Hrvoje Milić	30	2	22	2	4	0	4	0
40	MF		Amir Hossein Khodamoradi	7	0	6	0	1	0	0	0
41	DF		Arash Dajliri	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
42	MF		Fardin Rabet	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
57	DF		Shahin Taherkhani	11	0	6	0	0	0	5	0
66	MF		Masoud Rigi	38	1	26	1	5	0	7	0
70	DF		Mohammad Daneshgar	36	5	24	4	5	1	7	0
72	FW		Amir Arsalan Motahari	20	10	11	5	2	1	7	4
77	MF		Reza Azari	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
80	MF		Mohammad Bolboli	5	0	4	0	1	0	0	0
88	MF		Arash Rezavand	38	1	27	1	5	0	6	0
Players transferred/loaned out during the season
20	DF		Nikolay Bodurov	3	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
99	FW		Sajjad Aghaei	7	3	5	1	2	2	0	0

Last updated: 29 September 2020 (2020-09-29)
Source: Competitions

Goals

Cheick Diabaté and Mehdi Ghayedi are best scorers during the season

Rank	Player	Position	Pro League	Hazfi Cup	ACL	Total
1	Cheikh Diabaté	FW	15	0	4	19
2	Mehdi Ghayedi	FW	10	2	3	15
3	Amir Arsalan Motahari	FW	5	1	4	10
4	Voria Ghafouri	DF	5	2	1	8
	Ali Karimi	MF	5	1	2	8
6	Mohammad Daneshgar	DF	4	1	0	5
7	Farshid Esmaeili	MF	2	1	0	3
	Sajjad Aghaei	FW	1	2	0	3
9	Hrvoje Milić	DF	2	0	0	2
	Dariush Shojaeian	FW	1	1	0	2
11	Aref Gholami	DF	1	0	0	1
	Masoud Rigi	MF	1	0	0	1
	Arash Rezavand	MF	1	0	0	1
	Rouzbeh Cheshmi	DF	1	0	0	1
Own Goals			1	1	1	3
Total			55	12	15	82

Clean sheets

Rank	Name	Pro League	Hazfi Cup	ACL	Total
1	Hossein Hosseini	7	2	3	12
Total		7	2	3	12

Disciplinary record

N	P	Nat.	Name	Pro League			Hazfi Cup			AFC CL			Total			Notes
1	GK		Hossein Hosseini	1			2						3
3	DF		Milad Zakipour	2						1			3
4	DF		Roozbeh Cheshmi	2						1			3
5	DF		Aref Gholami	3	1		1						4	1
6	MF		Ali Karimi	3	1	1	1			1			5	1	1
7	MF		Cheick Diabaté	4									4
8	MF		Farshid Esmaeili	2	1		2						4	1
9	MF		Ali Dashti	6			1						7
10	FW		Mehdi Ghayedi	2						1			3
11	FW		Morteza Tabrizi	2									2
14	MF		Farshid Bagheri	1									1
21	DF		Vouria Ghafouri	2						1			3
23	MF		Dariush Shojaeian	2									2
33	DF		Hrvoje Milić	1						2			3
57	DF		Shahin Taherkhani							1			1
66	MF		Masoud Rigi	5			1			1			7
70	DF		Mohammad Daneshgar	3		1	1			2			6		1
72	FW		Amir Arsalan Motahari	1						1			2
88	MF		Arash Rezavand	6	1					4			10	1

Last updated: 29 September 2020 (2020-09-29)
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.

References

1. "با استعفای فتحی موافقت شد".
2. "خلیل زاده سرپرست استقلال شد".
3. "فتح الله زاده مدیرعامل استقلال شد".
4. "سعادتمند مدیرعامل استقلال شد".
5. "وریا غفوری، سرمربی موقت استقلال". باشگاه خبرنگاران جوان (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-12-09.
6. "رسمی؛ ستاره جوان فوتبال ایران به استقلال پیوست". ورزش 11 (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-05-09.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
7. "رسمی؛ بلبلی با قرارداد ۴ ساله استقلالی شد". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-06-23.
8. "رسمی؛ علی دشتی به استقلال پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-06-23.
9. "رسمی؛ میلاد باقری به استقلال پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-06-23.
10. "رسمی؛ یزدانی چهارمین خرید استقلال". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-06-23.
11. "رسمی: پایان روز شلوغ استقلال با جذب ریگی". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-06-23.
12. "رسمی؛ رضاوند استقلالی شد". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-07-08.
13. "رسمی؛ دیاباته به استقلال پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-07-09.
14. "رسمی؛ عارف غلامی به استقلال پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-07-22.
15. "رسمی؛ میلیچ استقلالی شد". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-08-19.
16. "دو بازیکن جوانان ایران به استقلال پیوستند". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-10-30.
17. "رسمی؛ ارسلان مطهری به استقلال پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-01-12.
18. "بودروف به استقلال پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-01-30.
19. "گلر جوان استقلال با تأیید برانکو به پرسپولیس پیوست". خبر ورزشی (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-05-16.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
20. "دو گلر آینده‌دار استقلال با جدایی از این تیم راهی پرسپولیس و سایپا شدند". جام نیوز (in Persian). Archived from the original on 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
21. "خداحافظی خسرو حیدری در تونل افتخار سرخابی". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-05-16.
22. "قرارداد مهدی رحمتی با پدیده رسمی شد". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-06-16.
23. "تمام نقل و انتقالات رسمی‌ یکشنبه 2 تیر". جام نیوز (in Persian). Archived from the original on 2019-06-18. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
24. "رسمی: محمدی مهر به پدیده پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-06-25.
25. "مدافع استقلال به تراکتور پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-06-26.
26. "نورافکن به شارلوا برگشت". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-07-03.
27. "رسمی؛ انتقال اللهیار به فنرباغچه در 18 سال و دو روزگی!". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-07-01.
28. "مدافع استقلال به پارس جنوبی جم پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-07-04.
29. "منشا از پرسپولیس و استقلال به عجمان". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-07-11.
30. "دو بازیکن رده امید به پرسپولیس پیوستند". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-07-14.
31. "دروازه‌بان استقلال به سایپا پیوست". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-08-28.
32. "مهاج سابق استقلال به تیم ژاپنی پیوست". خبرورزشی (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-09-09.
33. "5 بازیکن با پارس جنوبی قرارداد بستند". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-01-13.
34. "مهاجم سابق استقلال در سایپا". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-01-13.
35. "موافقت استقلال با انتقال آقایی به ذوب". ورزش ۳ (in Persian). Retrieved 2020-01-14.
36. "Persian Gulf Pro League/2019-20". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
37. "کارشناسی داوری استقلال و شهرخودرو".
38. "Al Wahda unable to travel to AFC Champions League (West)". Asian Football Confederation. 10 September 2020.
39. "AFC COVID-19 Sub Committee's decision on Al Wahda". Asian Football Confederation. 14 September 2020.

External links

• Iran Premier League Statistics
• Persian League