“Merv” players reached the AFC Cup playoffs by defeating Kyrgyz “Alay” from Osh city in the preliminary round of the tournament - 1:0. Musa Nurnazarov scored the winning goal in the 13th minute of the match.
The game took place in Mary at the “Sport Toplumy” stadium filled to capacity, which gathered 10070 spectators.
“Alay” is one of the oldest and most titled football clubs of the Kyrgyz Republic: 4–time champion (2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017), two-time Cup winner (2013, 2020), current three-time winner of the Super Cup (2017, 2018, 2023) and silver medalist of the national championship (2022).
Prior to that, “Alay” played in the AFC Cup four times: in 2016 – in the preliminary round playoffs and in 2014, 2017 and 2018 - in the group round of the competition. And it never left the group.
After 17 years, the current bronze medalist of the championship of Turkmenistan “Merv” is making a second attempt to compete for the second most important Asian club trophy. In 2006, it failed to overcome the barrier of the group tournament, playing in the same group with the teams of “Dempo” SC (India) and “Al-Nasr” (Oman).
It is also noteworthy that the paths of “Merv” and "Alay” crossed once before 29 years ago in the now defunct Asian Cup Winners' Cup. Then in 1994, “Merv” players won against “Alay” – 3:1 in the qualifying round in Dzhambul, in which five teams from Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan (Ravshan), Uzbekistan (Pakhtakor) and Kazakhstan (Taraz) fought for the only ticket to the next stage of the competition.
This time the victory was not easy for the team from the shores of Murgab. Mary's team took the lead after a corner kick. From the right edge, a cross followed at the near post, and Musa Nurnazarov, who was there, sent the ball with his head to the far corner of the goal.
“Alay” has made a lot of efforts to recoup. And in some episodes “Alay” was close to it. Even before the break, the forward of the visiting team aimed from the penalty area line at the "nine" to his right. However, the goalkeeper of “Merv” Merdan Saparov, recognized as the best player of the match, managed to hit the ball on a corner in a high jump.
In the second half, the vice-champion of the Kyrgyz Republic created several more dangerous moments at the goal of the hosts, but he could not recover from the missed goal.
At the post-match press conference, the head coach of "Alay" Aibek Tatanov congratulated the “Merv” team on reaching the next stage of the AFC Cup.
“I didn't expect so many fans to be at the game. I believe that their strong support helped “Merv” to win today,” Aibek Tatanov commented on the result of the match.
“Merv” coach Vitaly Alikperov also paid tribute to the fans, thanking them for their support.
"First of all, I want to say a huge thank you to the fans for their support – this is the 12th player on the field. We knew that the game of “Alay”, which has a lot of tall players, consists of crosses. Our task was to play on the counterattacks. In some moments it worked, in some it didn't. It turned out well that we scored a goal from the standard and kept the winning score. I hope that the guys will recover by the next AFC Cup game," Vitaly Alikperov shared his emotions after the game.
At the playoff stage of the AFC Cup-2023/24, “Merv” will play away on August 22 with the bronze medalist of the Tajik Championship “Khujand”. The meeting will take place at the stadium "20th anniversary of Independence of Tajikistan" in Khujand. The winner in the playoffs, as in the preliminary round of the AFC Cup, will be determined by the results of one game.
In case of victory over “Khujand,” the “Merv” players will have the right to compete in the group stage of the tournament in the Central Zone together with the teams “Altyn Asyr” (Turkmenistan), “Ravshan” (Tajikistan) and “Abdysh-Ata” (Kyrgyzstan).
The group round of the AFC Cup 2023/24 in the Central Zone will start on September 20 and end on December 14. Only the winner of the group will advance to the next stage of the tournament.
