11-th round of the Higher League: "Arkadag" and "Ashgabat" won with large scores, while "Nebitçi" grabbed an important victory

The initial matches of the 11th round of the Turkmenistan Higher Football League took place in the cities of Türkmenbaşy, Ashgabat, and Balkanabat. The first encounters of the round were remembered by the fans for being rich in goals, expected large-score victories, and highly contested matches with numerous yellow cards.

The leader of the Higher League, the "Arkadag" team, was the guest of "Şagadam" in the city of Türkmenbaşy. In the 5th minute of the match, Rahman Myratberdiýew scored a quick goal, putting his team ahead. Although Daýanç Meredow increased the lead at the end of the first half, precisely in the 45th minute, the home side's player Guwanç Waliýew scored a reply goal in the 2nd minute of the first half's added time, giving a unique flavor to the continuation of the game.

However, in the second half of the match, the football players of "Arkadag" completely took the advantage into their own hands and accurately converted two designated 11-meter penalty kicks. The goals were registered by Güýçmurat Annagulyýew (70th min.) and Resul Hojaýew (79th min.), ensuring the match concluded with a 4:1 score.

Ashgabat's "Ashgabat" team managed to defeat Mary's "Merw" team with a large 5:1 victory on their home ground, the "Nisa" stadium. Until Merdan Muhadow opened the scoring in the 44th minute of the game, an even competition continued between the two teams.

In the second half, the capital city representatives intensified their attacks even further. First, in the 65th minute, Şatlyk Gurbanow brought the score to 2:0, and then "Ashgabat's" forward Pirmyrat Soltanow took the stage. He stood out in just 15 minutes (scoring in the 69th, 79th, and from a penalty in the 84th minute). The goal scored by "Merw's" player Abdyresul Abdyýew in the 86th minute was of little use to the visitors.

Tense competition in Balkanabat

The match held in the city of Balkanabat between the local "Nebitçi" and the "Köpetdag" team, which is running at the bottom of the tournament table, was highly contested, even though it was not very rich in goals. The fate of the game was decided by a single goal scored in the 17th minute by "Nebitçi's" football player Seýitmämmet Hojamämmedow (1:0).

During the remaining time of the match, a very hot and rough competition continued on the pitch. The referee of the match had to show a total of 10 yellow cards to the players. Especially due to the tension that arose at the end of the match, 8 football players of the local team received yellow cards. Nevertheless, "Nebitçi" maintained the score and earned an important 3 points.

In the concluding match of the 11th round, two strong clubs of the championship — "Altyn asyr" and "Ahal" teams — will face each other. Currently, the points situation of the teams can be observed as follows:

• "Arkadag" — comfortably leads in first place with 33 points after 11 games.
• "Ahal" (20 points) and "Altyn Asyr" (19 points) complete the top three.
• "Nebitçi," with its victory, increased its points to 13 and moved into 4th place, pushing the "Şagadam" team (12 points) down to 5th place.
• In the lower part of the table are "Merw" (11 points) and "Ashgabat" (10 points), which has won three consecutive victories.
• At the very bottom tier of the table sits "Köpetdag" with 5 points.

In the list of the championship's top scorers, "Arkadag's" forward Didar Durdyýew leads with 9 goals (2 from penalties). He is followed by Süleýman Mirzoýew ("Ahal") — 6 goals (2 from penalties), Resul Hojaýew ("Arkadag", 1 from a penalty), and Serdar Gulyýew ("Şagadam", 2 from penalties) with 5 goals each.