The Malavan Courier
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Both of them Mehdi Abdi's — 8.95
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.95, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match17 Oct 2026
Malavan find a way past Esteghlal
Esteghlal made Malavan work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Time is catching up with Mohammad Alinejad
Everybody at Malavan saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Hossein Sadeghi in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Malavan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
One of their own: Mojtaba Fakhrian
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Mohammad Reza Ghobeishavi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Farhan Jafari
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Malavan will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Amir Torabi kept it short after the 3‑2 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
No hiding place for Farzad Taiebipour
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Farzad Taiebipour, and the manager let it.
In brief
- The dugout The manager has not finished forgetting Zargham Saadavi's mistake
- Player ratings Nobody could get near Behnam Barzay
- The dugout Mohammad Alinejad does not fit this one