January 22, 2021
The 2020/21 regular season of the Azerbaijan Premier League has just resumed after a short winter break of just under a month, with the last matches before the shut-down taking place on December 24th. In 2019/20 the league took a break from December 8th to February 1st, and typically, 8 weeks has been the duration of the mid-season hiatus.
History
The Azerbaijan Top League was created in 1992 following Azerbaijan’s independence after the break-up of the Soviet Union, and was rebranded as the Azerbaijan Premier League in 2007. Previously, football in Azerbaijan operated as part of the regional structure of the Soviet Union, and three Azeri sides experienced playing in the Soviet Top league. Neftci Baku were the only club to play more than one season at the highest level though, and they competed in 27 seasons, achieving a 3rd place finish in 1966.
Since 1992, Neftci and Qarabag have won the most titles with 8 a-piece.
The National Side
The Azerbaijan national side are currently ranked 109th in the world, just below the Faroe Islands and Zimbabwe but above Estonia and Thailand, making them 44th best in Europe. They did get as high as 90 in 2016 but were as low as 147 in 1994. Their average position since the FIFA world rankings were created is 115.
The Azeri have never qualified for a World Cup or Euro finals in their entire history. The qualifying campaign for Euro 2020 was a disaster, losing 7 out of 8 games, with the only point coming from a surprise 1-1 home draw with Serbia. Wales, Slovakia and Hungary all achieved the double over Azerbaijan.
The 2020/21 Euro Nations League was a little better. After starting with a 1-2 home defeat to Luxembourg, an unexpected 1-0 win in Cyprus was recorded, before another defeat, 0-2 in Montenegro. The three reverse matches were 0-0 draws, which together with a goal-less draw in a friendly in Slovenia means that Azerbaijan are on a run of 4 matches without a goal at either end !
All of the squad for the recent internationals play for sides in the Azerbaijan Premier League although there are a handful of, mostly young, Azeris playing in lower leagues around Europe, in particular the second and third levels in Turkey. 20 year old Serhat Tasdemir, born in Blackburn, is an Under 19 international and is with Peterborough United, 21 year old Baris Ekincier is with VFL Bochum, 21 year old Ferid Nabiyev is with Viktoria Zizkov in the Czech second division, and there are two Azeris at Narva Trans in the Estonian Meistriliiga. No Azeri has ever played in the English Premier League.
The record goal scorer for the national team is Gurban Gurbanov, who scored 14 times in 68 appearances and he is now the coach of Qarabag. Rashid Sadygov has won the most caps with 111 appearances between 2001 and 2017, and he is now coach at Zira.
Berti Vogts and Robert Prosinicki have had spells as coaches of the national side, with Vogts’ reign lasting 6 years.
League Structure
Typically, the season is played between August and May with an 8 week mid-season break. This season commenced slightly later than usual on August 21st, and is scheduled to finish on May 22nd.
The Azerbaijan Premier League league is currently ranked 26th by UEFA which enables the winners to qualify for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. Three sides will enter the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League, being the winner of the Azerbaijan Cup, the runners-up and the side finishing third. If the winners of the Cup finish in the top three places then the side finishing fourth will qualify.
The league consists of 8 sides who play each other four times. The side finishing bottom of the league is automatically relegated to Azerbaijan First Division, which currently consists of 10 sides, five of which are Second XI’s of Premier League clubs. Only non-reserve sides are entitled to be promoted.
Sides in the Premier League can sign up to 9 foreign players, but only 6 are allowed on the field at any one time.
Attendances
Due to Covid pandemic all matches in the 2020/21 season have been played behind closed doors.
In 2019/20 the average attendance in the league was 1,017, with Qarabag being the best supported side with an average of 1,660. Next came Sabah with 1,328 followed by Neftci with 1,273. Gabala had the lowest average on 403.
Qarabag did attract over 31,000 for their Champions League qualifier against APOEL Nicosia in 2019.
How To Watch
Highlights are available on the AzPFL YouTube channel.
The Premier League official website also has highlights, some complete matches and statistics ( www.plf.az ).
Goal clips are also posted almost immediately on the Azerbaijan Professional Football League Facebook page.
Last Season
The 2019/20 season was terminated due to the impact of Covid and the table after the 20 completed round of fixtures was declared to be the final placings, with no side being relegated or promoted.
At the time of the termination Qarabag were 8 points clear and were awarded the title, their 7th consecutive championship. Neftci were a further 7 points ahead of third placed Kesla. With the Cup competition being abandoned, fourth placed Sumgayit were given the final Europa League slot. However, they were only 4 points clear of bottom side Gabala, which was probably a factor in the decision not to relegate any side.
Summary Of The Season
When the league took its break, Neftci led the table by point ahead of Qarabag but had played a game more. Neftci underlined their championship credentials with a 2-1 win at Qarabag in Round 4, Qarabag’s only loss so far this season, although Qarabag emphatically gained revenge with a 6-0 win in the return. Qarabag have been prolific in front of goal, also chalking up 6-1 home wins over Kesla and Sumqayit. However, the win at Neftci is their only away win to-date, with all 5 of their other away matches being drawn.
Neftci have also been defeated at Zira ( 0-1 ) and at home to Sumgayit ( 0-2 ).
Zira were third, 4 points off the top having taken 4 points off Neftci and drawn at home to Qarabag. The other 5 sides were closely bunched, separated by only 3 points.
Performances In European Club Competitions This Season
Qarabag were fortunately handed home draws in their single match Champions League qualifiers and managed to overcome North Macedonian Champions Sileks ( 1-0 ), then Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol ( 2-1 ) before losing a penalty shoot-out to Norwegians Molde after a 0-0 draw.
Dropping down to the Europa League, Qarabag stunned Legia Warsaw 3-0 in Poland to reach the group stage where they finished bottom of their group with just a 1-1 home drawn with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Sivasspor and Villareal performed the double and Maccabi Tel Aviv won the return fixture in Isreal. However, the Villareal match in Spain was award as a 3-0 win due to an outbreak of Covid in the Qarabag camp.
Neftci were the only Azeri side out of the direct entries to the Europa League to win a match, 2-1 over Shkupi from North Macedonia before being eliminated 1-4 by Galatasaray.
Sumgayit suffered a 0-2 home loss to Shkendija, another side from North Macedonia, whilst Kesla lost on penalties to Albanian side Laci after a 0-0 draw.
Thursday 21st January
Sabail 1-3 Neftci Baku ( 16.00 local/12.00 GMT )
Zira 2-0 Gabala ( 16.00 local/12.00 GMT )
Sabah 1-2 Qarabag ( 18.00 local/14.00 GMT )
Friday 22nd January
Kesla 0-1 Sumgayit ( 16.00 local/12.00 GMT )
Match Summaries
Sabail 1-3 Neftci Baku
Sabail is a district of Baku and the football club play at the 3,200 capacity ASCO Arena in Baku. They started the day in 7th place, one point off the bottom. Their home record was a solid 2-2-2 with wins over Sabah and Sumgayit ( both 2-1 ), but losses to Gabala ( 1-3 ) and Zira ( 1-2 ). The reverse fixture was a 2-1 win for Neftci.
The line-up for Sabail included Guatemalan international keeper Nicholas Hagen ( 11 caps ), Iranian centre-back Peyman Keshavarazi, South African midfielder Hendrick Ekstein ( 2 caps ) and North Macedonia forward Florijan Kadriu. Ghana and Chelsea legend Michael Essien was with the club until November, but has now moved to FC Nordsjaelland to be an assistant manager. International forward Rauf Aliyev ( 46 caps ) was their top scorer with 4, but he was not involved in this match.
Neftci are also from Baku and play in the 11,000 capacity Bakcell Arena, although important matches are played at the 31,200 capacity Tofiq Bahramov stadium. Bahromov was a former Neftci player who achieved global “fame” as the so called “Russian linesman” in the 1966 World Cup final who deemed Geoff’Hurst’s shot did cross the line after hitting the bar.
Neftci’s nickname is the oil workers, and Turkish Airlines are the current shirt sponsors. Their starting line-up featured Senegalese centre-back Mamadou Mbodj, Serbian defender Vojislav Stankovic ( 1 cap ), Brazilian wing-back Thallyson, Guinea midfielder Mamdou Kane, Albanian midfielder Bruno Telushi and ex-Lierse Moroccan striker Sabir Bougrine. Ex-Genk & Brest French forward Steeven Joseph-Monrose was only on the bench, and there was no place in the squad for International attacking midfielder Namik Alaskorov ( 20 caps ), top scorer with 8 goals,
Prior to kick-off there was an unusual celebration, with the match referee Kamal Umudlu being given a guard of honour and applauded onto the pitch. He had apparently taken part in the most recent fighting with Armenia as a soldier, and this was a measure of recognition for his service to his country.
After a quiet start to the match the first significant piece of action occurred in the 25th minute when Ekstein’s flick with the outside of his foot released Kadriu inside the area, and in the action of shooting the Macedonian fell to the floor after slight contact from Thallyson. A penalty was awarded to Sabail, but experienced international Ismailyov’s spot-kick was well save by Neftci keeper Mammadov, one of only three players to have played every minute of the season up to the winter break, diving to his left. However, to the consternation of the Neftci players referee Umuldu decided that the keeper was off his line, showed a yellow card to Mammadov and ordered a re-take. At a stroke his popularity was diminished with half of the participants, but increased in the other half ! With his second attempt, Ismailyon drilled the kick down the middle as Mammodov again dived to his left. 1-0 to Sabail.
Neftci responded positively to going behind with Telushi shooting narrowly wide, and Thallyson headed straight into the keeper’s arms, but they were back on parity just before half-time when Bougrine sent a tremendous shot from 20 yards into the bottom corner giving Sabail keeper Hagen no chance.
Neftci went in front 5 minutes into the second half when captain Emin Mahmudov curled a free-kick over the wall and into the corner, with again Hagen having little chance.
Sabail left back Manafov created two chances to get his side back on terms. Firstly, Kadriu just couldn’t get on the end of a teasing cross and then a few minutes later, a similar cross was met at the far post by Ismailyov, but instead of a simple tap-in, to the disbelieve of his team mates he scuffed his shot wide of the post.
Neftci sealed the win in the last minute when Bougrine took the ball of the toe off Telushi as he was about to shoot, took a few paces then turned and shot from 20 yards to make it 3-1, and ensure the three points went to Neftci.
Zira 2-0 Gabala
Zira is part of the Baku municipality to the east of the city centre and its club play at the 1,200 capacity Zira Olympic Sports Complex. They started the day in an impressive 3rd place, with a respectable 2-3-1 home record with wins over Neftci ( 1-0 ) and Kesla ( 3-1 ) and a loss to Sabah ( 0-2 ).
Their line-up included Brazilian keeper Matheus Albino, Serbian centre-back Lazar Dordevic, Mozambique forward Clesio ( 31 caps ) & Georgian striker David Volkov. Captain and top scorer with 5 goals, Aghabala Ramazonov ( 18 caps ) was not in the match-day squad whilst ex-Leicester, Barnet, Cambridge United and Colchester Sierra Leone defender Alie Sesay ( 8 caps ) was on the bench
Gabala ( also spelt Qabala ) is 220km west of Baku and the club play at the 4,500 Gabala City Stadium. They have been runner-up three times and won the Cup in 2018. Tony Adams is amongst their former managers.
After being bottom when the 2019/20 season was terminated, Gabala went into today’s match in 5th place, although that was only 2 points from the bottom. They had a reasonable 2-1-3 away record, with victories at Sabail ( 3-1 ) and Sumgayit ( 1-0 ). The previous match between the two side had been a 1-1 draw.
Gabala lined-up with Albanian centre-back Jurgen Goxha, Croatian centre-back Vinko Medimorec, Georgian midfielder Merab Gigauri ( 1 cap ), Montenegrin midfielder Stefan Vukcevic, Brazilian forward Raphael Utriq and Slovenian winger Nicolas Rajsel. Raphael is the top scorer with three.
Gabala started brightly and thought they had taken an early lead when Zira keeper Matheus’ poor effort to deal with a low cross only resulted in him pushing the ball into the path of Isgandarov, who slid in to score. Unfortunately for Gabala the effort was rightly disallowed for offside.
The opening goal came on the stroke of half-time when Gabala lost possession near half-way, the ball was quickly moved to Volkov out on the right, and his low cross was swept home by Musa Qurbani from just outside the 6 yard box to give Zira the half-time lead.
Gabala had the better of the second half and had several reasonable chances to draw level. Rajsel saw an indirect free-kick from inside the Zira penalty area blocked, by a defender who couldn’t have been 10 yards away, and Rafael saw a shot go inches wide.
In added on time, Zira added a second when Gabala again lost possession and when the ball was sent long into the Gabala half, the keeper and defender got in each other’s way, Volkov blocked the attempted clearance and recovered the fastest to take advantage of the open goal.
Zira stayed in third place with this result
Sabah 1-2 Qarabag
Sabah are located in Masazar, part of the Baku metropolis, 16 km north-west of the city centre and play at the 16,000 capacity Bank Respublika Arena. They went into this match as one of the three sides on 13 points at the bottom with a 2-0-4 home record. The wins were over Gabala ( 3-0 ) and Sabail ( 2-1 ).
Sabah were another team to begin with 6 foreigners, with Uruguayan Alvaro Villete in goal, Serbian Filip Ivanovic at centre-back, Bosnian Mario Marina and Guinean Amadou Dialloin midfield, and Congolese Kevin Koubemba ( 5 caps ) and Ivorian Tiemenko Fofana up front.
Qarabag were originally from Agdam in the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region but haven’t played there since 1993 due to the conflict with Armenia, with Agdam now being a ruined ghost town. Having relocated to Baku, Qarabag’s home ground is the 5,200 capacity Azersun Arena, although like Neftci, major matches are played at the Tofiq Bahramov stadium.
Defending champions Qarabag had won the reverse fixture 2-0 in August, and looking to keep the pressure on at the top, selected three of their legionnaires to start, namely French winger Abdellah Zoubir, Cape Verde winger Patrick Andrade ( 1 cap ) and Ghanaian forward Owusu Kwabena ( 3 caps ), with 2 more on the bench. Influential Haitian attacking midfielder Wilde-Donald Guerrier was missing, likewise Colombian defender Kevin Medina. Qarabag had 4 of the top 9 in the goal scoring charts with Azeri Mahir Emreli and Croat Filip Ozobic on 7, Owusu on 5 and Guerrier with 4.
Qarabag totally dominated the first half. In the 5th minute Owusu and Zoubir saw shots blocked, before Qarabag took the lead in the 7th. Owusu again saw his shot blocked, and whilst the Sabah defenders dithered, Mammadov pounced to poke the ball home. It could have been 2-0 after 13 minutes when the Sabah keeper Villete dwelt on the ball and was disposed by Emreli, who put the ball into the open net. Luckily for Sabah the referee judged the keeper to have been fouled.
Somehow Sabah managed to get to the break only one goal down as Qarabag missed a stream of chances, but against the run of play, Sabah squared the match in the 60th minute. A fine ball down the left channel put Diallo in space and his perfect low ball across the face of the goal left Koubemba a simple finish at the back post. Bouyed by this Sabah pressed, and five minutes later Koubemba was put clear, but he wasted a glorious chance with a weak left footed finish wide of the post.
Qarabag response was a sweet move involving Owusu, Zoubir and Bayramov, with the latter’s pull back leaving Emreli with an easy finish from 6 yards which provided to be the winner.
Kesla 0-1 Sumgayit
Kesla are another side located in the centre of Baku, and they play at the 8,300 capacity ASK Arena. The club won the Azerbaijan championship in 2008 and 2010. At this week’s resumption they lay bottom of the Azerbaijan Premier League, with a home record of 1-2-3. Gabala were the only side beaten ( 3-1 ), although they also achieved a 0-0 draw with Qarabag. They did though win 1-0 in the reverse fixture in Sumgayit.
Sumgayit is the third largest city in Azerbaijan, located on the Caspian Sea 30km north of Baku. Its side play at the 1,300 capacity Kapital Bank Arena, which is being renovated to increase its capacity to 10,000. Starting the round in 4th place they had a 2-2-2 away record, with wins at Neftci ( 2-0 ) and Sabah ( 2-1 ).
Kesla also started with the maximum 6 foreigners, namely Moldovan keeper Stanislav Namasco ( 46 caps ), Montenegrin centre-back Mijusko Bohovic, Sierra Leone midfielder, John Kamara ( 11 caps ), Malian midfielder Sadio Tonjkara, Paraguayan attacking midfielder Cesar Meza Colli and Cameroonian forward Anatole Abanq ( 3 caps ). Silvio, Brazilian forward and top scorer with 3 goals, warmed the bench.
In contrast, Sumgayit did not start with any “official” foreigners at all, although they did field Iranian striker Ali Ghobani. However, he received Azerbaijani citizenship in 2020, has since played twice for the national side, whilst also being Sumgayit’s top scorer this season with 6 goals in 9 appearances. Similarly, talented Russian midfielder Rahim Sadikhov also acquired Azeri citizenship in 2020 and has subsequently represented the national team three times. Iranian striker Medhi Sharifi was on the bench though.
The first chance of the game fell to Kesla in the second minute, Haciyev’s incisive pass played in Abang but his shot was saved by the legs of keeper Cannatov. Play continued with Sumagayit going down to the other end where the lively Khayal Najafov crossed to inside the edge of the penalty area for Tellur Mutallimov to meet with a snap half volley. The shot may have taken a deflection off Mustafayev, and the Kesla keeper was slow in reacting, but the ball nestled into the corner for an early lead to the visitors.
Abang had another chance for Kesla on just passed 30 minutes, but his header from close to the penalty spot was directed wide. The replays suggested he was in an offside position anyway.
Perhaps the crucial point of the match occurred in the 37th minute when Ghobani ran onto a ball over the top and was brought down just outside the penalty area. Mustafayev’s day got worse when he was shown the red card. The subsequent free-kick from Mutallimov was pushed away by the diving Kesla keeper, making it look harder than really necessary !
Sumgayit brought on Sadikhov at half-time and the former Russian should have doubled the lead in the 56th minute when after a nice combination with Mutallimov, the ball rebounded to Sadikov on the 6 yard box, but his casual finish was blocked by some desperate defending.
Sumgayit fashioned another great chance with just under 5 minutes to play when Mutallimov, Sadikhov and Najafov all combined to leave Mutallimov free 12 yards out, but his effort was blazed over the bar.
Kesla forced a couple of corners in added on time, the first of which saw a weak header cleared off the line before Cannatov could gather, and moments later, Abang managed to get his head to an in-swinging corner at the angle of the 6 yard box and the ball looped towards the far corner. Under pressure and facing his own goal, Abdullazde made a brave defensive header to clear, and after a couple of scrambles Sumgayit managed to survive the danger and take the three points.
League Table
Next Fixtures
Thursday 28th January
Qarabag vs Sabail
Saturday 13th February
Qarabag vs Neftci Baku
Sumgayit vs Sabail
Sunday 14th February
Qabala vs Kesla
Zira vs Sabah
The preliminary round of the Azerbaijan Cup is scheduled for 25th January, with the two-legged quarter finals to be played on February 1st and 8th.
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