Be'sat Kermanshah and Damash Gilanian Locked in Stalemate as Azadegan League Stays Wide Open

It was a match that promised a reckoning—a moment to define direction, either to confirm a revival or spark one anew. Instead, under the vast roof of Tehran’s iconic Azadi Stadium on Monday night, Be’sat Kermanshah and Damash Gilanian played to a scoreless draw that left both camps searching for meaning as the Azadegan League’s early uncertainty deepened.

For Be’sat Kermanshah, in particular, the goalless affair was hardly the redemption their supporters craved after last week’s bruising 0-3 loss to Nassaji Mazandaran. The side arrived in the capital’s west perched in midtable, with flashes of promise—two wins from their last three—but equally clear reminders of inconsistency. A night against Damash, mired in 17th place without a win through seven rounds, seemed the perfect remedy. But ninety minutes later, the prognosis remains inconclusive.

The opening exchanges set the tenor: cautious, congested, and rarely threatening. Be’sat Kermanshah, in their familiar navy kits, pressed forward early, hoping to capitalize on Damash’s fragile confidence. Mohammadreza Safi, their nimble winger, darted down the flank in the 12th minute, cutting inside only to send his shot tamely at veteran keeper Mehdi Mirzaei. Minutes later, a sharp one-two between Mahdi Shafiei and captain Mehrdad Sohrabi forced a scramble in the box, but Damash’s back line—uncharacteristically disciplined after a string of recent defensive lapses—snuffed out the danger.

Damash, for their part, seemed content to absorb pressure and search for openings on the counter. Their lone bright spark came just before halftime, when Arman Nouri found space behind Be’sat’s defense. The forward streaked into the area and unleashed a right-footed drive from 14 yards, only to see his effort parried away by Be’sat goalkeeper Amirhossein Babaei, drawing a collective gasp from the thin but loyal traveling support.

If the first half was a study in unfulfilled intent, the second carried an air of resignation. Both sides probed, but rarely with conviction. In the 63rd minute, Be’sat’s Ehsan Daneshgar rose highest to meet a corner, his header flashing wide of the far post—one of the hosts’ few real chances to break the deadlock. As fatigue crept in, tempers flared: a rash challenge near midfield earned Damash defender Vahid Rasouli the only booking of the night, but otherwise, the match stayed measured, almost polite.

Context made the inertia only more glaring. For Damash Gilanian, the result continued a frustrating pattern—now four draws and three defeats, still winless after seven tries. The solitary point earned tonight edges them clear of last place, but survival looks increasingly uncertain unless their attack finds inspiration quickly. Even small comforts must be savored: unlike the 1-2 defeat at Mes Kerman or the 0-2 home loss to Saipa, tonight Damash at least proved capable of organization and resistance, their back line holding firm despite weeks of scrutiny.

Be’sat, meanwhile, are left wrestling with missed opportunity. Now tenth in the table, their eight points from seven matches betray a team on the fringe—capable of the 2-0 win at Niroye Zamini, yet also prone to frustrating blanks, as seen in two of their last three home games. The question is familiar for teams in their position: is this a foundation or a plateau? With each choreographed thrust forward that fizzled out, the crowd’s early optimism dulled, replaced by a low hum of impatience.

Tonight’s outcome echoed the clubs’ recent head-to-head history—always close, often cagey, rarely spectacular. The absence of red cards and the scarcity of genuine goalmouth drama underscored a mutual pragmatism shaped by the realities of league position and the looming threat of relegation, even this early in the campaign.

As the final whistle sounded under Azadi’s pale floodlights, there was little celebration, only the embrace of shared frustration. Both managers now face urgent calculations. For Be’sat Kermanshah, the imperative is clear: rediscover attacking edge before stagnation sets in. For Damash Gilanian, any point away from home halts the bleeding, but the clock is ticking for a breakthrough that can transform belief into momentum.

With the Azadegan League’s lower half already a tangle of would-bes and might-bes, neither side tonight looked like a team ready to slip away from the peloton. The season, still young, promises more nights like these—fraught with tension, defined not by spectacle, but by the relentless grind for survival and hope. In football, and especially in the Azadegan, sometimes a point gained is simply another week to reassess, regroup, and dream anew.