ANDhe Spanish coach Paco Jmez has started his career at the Tractor Sports Club iran on the right foot, which has led to being one of the best teams in the league competition since it debuted on the bench on December 20.
That day, Jmez led his first match in the visit to Paykan, who ended with a 0-1 win on matchday 12 thanks to a goal scored by Abbasi. That result earned him to climb from seventh to fifth place and situate himself seven points behind the leader, Perspolis.
During the following crashes, luck was more elusive. The Tractor achieved a goalless draw at home against Mes Kermen and lost in the field of Nassaji Mazandaran (2-0), bad omens before twice facing an Esteghal who was second at the time.
The first of these took place in the league and resulted in a 2-0 victory with a double by Ghanbari. The second was framed in the Cup and ended with the elimination of the team, which fell 2-1 after extra time despite taking the lead at the start of it through Asari. From there the good results began to be customary.
The subsequent 2-2 draw at home against Gol Gohar led to a great run of three consecutive wins against Zob Ahan (1-3 with Asadi’s hat-trick), in front of the foolad (1-0 in the final moments with a goal from Mohammadi) and in front of the Havadar (0-1 in circumstances similar to those of the previous day but with a goal from Gustavo Vagenin).
The goalless draw in front of their home crowd against Aluminum Arak slowed down the momentum slightly, which turned positive again after beating Sanat Naft 3-1. That day the Tractor finished six points behind Persepolis, tenant of second place that gives access to international competition and his next rival.
In front of their fans, Paco Jmez’s team had a golden opportunity to get closer to a direct rival, but this has faded with a 2-3 defeat as a result of a goal from the opponent in the 95th minute.
In this way, the Tractor, which is fifth, has added 21 points out of 33 possible since the arrival of the Spaniard, the same as the Perspolis (second) and the Esteghal (third); and five less than the Sepahan (leader). Before his arrival, in the same number of matches, the squad had scored 15 points, scored one less goal and conceded 4 more.
Now they have eight days ahead of them in which they will measure various teams installed in the lower-middle zone of the table and although the difference in points with the two leaders is notable, since they are located at 9 and 10, there is room to continue growing and for Jmez to shine a good job that has already earned him to sound like a new coach.
