Footballers of "Arkadag" and "Ahal" will meet in the decisive match for the second most important club trophy - the Turkmenistan Cup. This was determined based on the results of the second leg semi-final matches in Ashgabat.
In the first semi-final, as already reported, "Arkadag" twice prevailed over the capital's "Altyn Asyr": 4-1 in the first away game and 4-0 in the second leg home match.
In the other semi-final, "Ahal" and "Merv" faced each other. The first match, which took place on September 27 in Mary, ended in a draw - 1-1. "Ahal" won 1-0 in the return match, held today at the "Nisa" stadium in Ashgabat. Meylis Diniev scored the winning goal for Serdar Geldiev's team in the 74th minute.
The upcoming final will be the seventh in the history of the tournament for "Ahal," the current winner of the Turkmenistan Cup. Previously, "Ahal" won the second most important club trophy four times, and each time the team of the Main Department of "Turkmennebitonumleri" was led to this success by different coaches. In 2013, under the guidance of Ali Gurbani, honored coach of Turkmenistan, the players of this club won the decisive match against "Altyn Asyr" - 2-1. In 2014, they repeated the same success, but this time with head coach Guvanchmukhammet Ovekov, prevailing in the final against "Balkan" - 3-2.
"Ahal" won the Turkmenistan Cup for the third time in 2017, achieving a big victory under the guidance of head coach Rovshan Meredov over "Shagadam" - 4-0. Last year, these same teams met again in the final, in which "Ahal" won with a larger score of 5-0. Head coach Mergen Orazov led this club to its fourth victory in the Turkmenistan Cup.
This will be the first final for FC "Arkadag," formed in April this year. Previously, this team, representing the city of the same name of state significance, clinched the title of Turkmenistan champion ahead of schedule. And now, Vladimir Bayramov’s wards are close to achieving a double.
This year, "Arkadag" and "Ahal" have met three times in the Turkmenistan championship. And in all three matches, "Arkadag" won all three matches: 5-2, 3-2, and 2-1.
