Turkmenbashi's "Shagadam" secured its first victory under the new head coach Ali Gurbani by defeating "Ashgabat" 3:1 in a home match of the 20th round of the Turkmenistan football championship.
Ali Gurbani, 73-year-old Honored Coach of Turkmenistan, took charge of the team from the Caspian coast this summer, having extensive experience of working with the Olympic team of our country and seven Turkmen clubs. He replaced Yevgeny Tkachenko on the coaching bench of "Shagadam," who remained with the club as the assistant head coach.
The victory for the coastal club was marked by another notable event—the first goal scored by Turkmen midfielder Musa Nurnazarov, who transferred to "Shagadam" from Tajikistan's "Ravshan" in Kulob.
This year, Musa won the Tajikistan Football Federation Cup with "Ravshan." In the match against "Ashgabat," he opened the scoring in the 61st minute on his 24th birthday. His teammate Mekan Ashyrov supported his effort by scoring a double in the 67th and 69th minutes. Didar Tejenov, a player from the home team, accidentally scored an own goal in the 85th minute, setting the final score.
After this victory, "Shagadam" retained the fourth position in the standings with 27 points.
"Ashgabat," with 16 points, shares the 6th-7th places with Balkanabat's "Nebitchi," which, despite leading 1:0 during the 20th round, ultimately lost to "Merv" in Mary with a score of 1:2. The guests opened the scoring as early as the 4th minute, thanks to Myratdurdy Bayramov. Two minutes later, Abdyresul Abdiyev equalized the score to 1:1. Permen Hallyev secured a comeback victory for "Merv" in the 7th minute of added time in the second half.
A match of great interest in this round was between two participants of Asian club tournaments—"Arkadag" and "Altyn Asyr," held at the capital's "Nisa" stadium. "Arkadag", reigning champion and holder of the Turkmenistan Cup, will debut this year in the group stage of the third most prestigious club tournament in Asia—the AFC Challenge League. Meanwhile, "Altyn Asyr," after a comeback victory in the away qualifiers against India's "East Bengal" with a score of 3:2, will represent Turkmenistan in a higher-ranked group tournament—the AFC Champions League 2.
As the game showed, Yazguly Hojageldiyev's team could not provide worthy resistance to "Arkadag," which scored five goals against their opponent, conceding only one. For the winners, Altymyrat Annadurdyev scored twice (27th minute from a penalty and 59th), and Ilya Tamurkin (36th), Shanazar Tirkishev (58th) each scored once. The fifth goal was recorded as an own goal by Resul Rovshenmyradov (86th). For the defeated team, Rovshengeldi Halmamedov scored a consolation goal (78th).
After this victory, "Arkadag" further strengthened its leading position in the national championship, keeping intrigue only in the fight for second place between "Altyn Asyr" and "Ahal," which confidently defeated "Kopetdag" away with a score of 4:1 in the 20th round. The victory for the team of the Main Department of "Turkmennebitonumleri" was secured by Elman Tagayev (23rd minute), Salim Umarov (30th), Dayanch Meredov (32nd), and Gurbanmuhammet Esenov (73rd). For "Kopetdag," Galabek Jumamuradov scored (68th).
Having suffered their 11th defeat in the current national championship, Begench Garaev's team remains at the bottom of the standings with 13 points.
