The 5th round of the Turkmenistan Football Championship among Premier League clubs ended with two matches in Ashgabat and the city of Turkmenbashi.
In the capital derby at the "Sport Toplumy" stadium in the Buzmeyin etrap, "Altyn Asyr" hosted "Kopetdag".
The team of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan had an unsuccessful start in the national championship this season, losing all three matches. The fourth match was no exception.
The "Kopetdag" footballers only put up a decent fight against the bronze medalist of last year's championship until the 43rd minute. However, the first goal was scored by Murad Annayev, and the opponents went into the break with the score 1:0 in favor of "Altyn Asyr".
In the second half, the home team scored two more goals, which were scored by Suleyman Muhadov (55th minute) and Zafar Babajanov (66th), and achieved a major victory – 3:0.
In the city of Turkmenbashi, where the vice-champion of Turkmenistan, "Ahal", came to visit the local "Shagadam", the game was a tough fight. In the 7th minute, Ilya Tamurkin put the home team ahead – 1:0. Three minutes later, "Ahal" got even after a precise strike by Elman Tagaev.
Just before the break, in the 2nd minute of added time of the first half, the assistant head coach Saparmurat Ovezov was sent off for two yellow cards. However, this did not affect the game of "Ahal". In the 74th minute, Elman Tagaev scored the second goal against "Shagadam", which ultimately turned out to be the winning one.
Having won a strong-willed victory with a score of 2:1, "Ahal" scored 9 points. "Altyn Asyr" also has the same number of points. With these indicators after four games, these teams share the first two lines of the tournament table. The leaders are 2 points behind "Ashgabat", "Nebitchi" and "Shagadam", who have played one match more. Next with 6 points after two games is "Arkadag". In the following places are "Merv" (4 points after 5 games) and "Kopetdag" (0 points after 4 games).
After five rounds, the top scorers' race with 3 goals is still shared by Abdyresul Abdyev from "Merv" and Yhlas Saparmamedov from "Arkadag". Yhlas' teammates Begench Akmamedov and Didar Durdyev, as well as Gurban Annayev, Elman Tagaev (both from "Ahal"), Zafar Babajanov ("Altyn Asyr") and Bashim Gurbandurdyev ("Ashgabat") scored 2 goals each.
The matches of the 6th round of the Turkmenistan Football Championship will be held from April 11 to 13. On the first day, "Ahal" will play with "Merv". The next day, two games will be held: "Altyn Asyr" - "Shagadam" and "Arkadag" - "Ashgabat". The 6th round will end on April 13 with the match "Kopetdag" - "Nebitchi".
