Matches of the 12th round of the Turkmenistan Football Championship were held in three cities of the country, which pleased the fans with high performance, confident victories of the favourites and the principled opposition of the outsiders.
In four matches, the teams scored a total of 12 goals.The championship leader, Arkadag, left no chance for Nebitchi of Balkanabat at their home arena.The reigning champions removed almost all doubts about the winner in the first half thanks to a precise strike by Mekan Saparov (22nd minute) and a double by Didar Durdyyev (31st - from the penalty spot and 43rd).
At the beginning of the second half, the visitors managed to score one goal thanks to the efforts of Elyas Agoyliyev (50th), but they were unable to turn the tide of the game.
Already in stoppage time, in the 91st minute, Mekan Saparov scored a double and set the final crushing score 4:1 in favour of Arkadag.The match in Ashgabat at the Nisa stadium, where Ahal hosted Shagadam of Turkmenbashy, turned out to be extremely close and not rich in goals.
The visitors built a tight defence, which the vice-champion of Turkmenistan was unable to break down for a long time.Enver Annayev became the saviour of the home team in the 73rd minute, his precise strike bringing Ahal a crucial three points.
Another medal contender, Altyn Asyr of the capital, outplayed Merv of Mary on the road with class.Team of Yazguly Hojageldiyev controlled the match and scored a goal in each half.
In the 28th minute, Sohbet Durdyyev opened the scoring, and in the 62nd minute, Bagtyyar Gurgenov strengthened the signalists advantage, recording a confident away victory with a score of 2:0.
In the capital derby and, at the same time, the battle of the outsiders, Kopetdag turned out to be stronger.It all started off alarmingly for the nominal hosts: in the 23rd minute, Merdan Muhadov put Ashgabat ahead 1:0.
However, just before the half-time whistle, Bayramgeldi Gulmayev equalised the score in the 45th minute.The second half was the breakthrough performance of Arslan Saparov his double in the 49th and 64th minutes allowed Kopetdag to turn the game around and earn a crucial three points.
Having achieved a comeback victory with a score of 3:1, team of Aman Kochumov reduced the gap to two points behind Ashgabat, which occupies 7th place with 10 points.
At the top of the standings the situation has not changed.With two rounds left in the second half of the season, Arkadag is confidently leading, having earned a maximum of 36 points in 12 games.
Ahal is 12 points behind the leader.Altyn Asyr rounds out the top three with 23 points.Having scored twice in this round, the top scorer of the last four national championships, Didar Durdyyev from Arkadag, strengthened his lead in the race of scorers.
He now has 11 goals to his credit (2 from penalties).Second and third places are shared by Arslan Saparov (Kopetdag) and Suleyman Mirzoyev (Ahal), who have scored 6 goals each and converted 1 and 2 penalties, respectively.
Next in line were Resul Hojayev (Arkadag) and Serdar Gulyyev (Shagadam), with 5 goals each.R.Hojayev scored 1 goal from the penalty spot, and S.Gulyyev scored 2.