Today, the 18th round of the Azerbaijan Football Premier League ended with two matches.
“Neftchi”, in order to catch up with “Karabakh” and regain the first line, it was necessary to beat “Sabakh”. Samir Abasov’s team coped with this task, having won with a score of 2: 1.
Namik Aleskerov brought Neftchi forward in the 44th minute. Mirabdulla Abbasov made the score 2: 0 in the 64th minute. “Sabah” was able to play one goal only in stoppage time – the penalty was converted by Tamkin Khalilzade.
It should be noted that in the first half, the lights went out at the Baksel Arena stadium, and therefore the match was suspended for about 10 minutes.
Thus, “Neftchi” and “Karabakh” again have the same number of points – 36 each. “Neftchi” takes 1st place thanks to two victories in three head-to-head matches with the champion.
“Zira” taking 3rd place played at a party with its main pursuer – “Sumgait”. The meeting ended in a draw 0: 0, which was quite satisfactory for “Zira”, which retained a 5-point lead from the 4th position.
Let us remind you that yesterday “Garabagh” defeated “Gabala” – 3: 0, and “Sabail” and “Keshla” drew 1: 1.
Matches of the 19th round will take place on March 8 and 9.
Tournament position
1. “Neftchi” – 36 points (18 matches)
2. “Karabakh” – 36 (18)
3. “Zira” – 29 (18)
4. “Sumgait” – 24 (18)
5. “Gabala” – 21 (18)
6. “Sabail” – 17 (18)
7. “Keshlya” – 16 (18)
8. “Sabah” – 15 (18).