September 9, 2021
These
diaries last took a look at the Uzbekistan Super League in December 2020 with a
review of the 2020 season. The 2021 season has now reached matchday 17.
Last
season’s champions Pakhtakor looked on paper to have a much weaker squad this
season and established coach Shota Arveladze, who had a long and distinguished
career with Ajax, left the club before the start of the season to be replaced
by his assistant Pieter Huistra, also formerly of Ajax as well as Glasgow
Rangers amongst others.
Star
midfielder Jaloliddin Masharipov, the outstanding player in the 2020 Super
League, left to join Al Nasr in Saudi Arabia, striker Igor Sergeev moved to
Kazakhstan, initially to Aktobe but is now at Tobol, and Swiss forward Eren
Derdiyok joined Ankaragucu. However, Serbian striker Dragan Ceran, the league’s
leading goal scorer with 20 goals in 2020, stayed with the club and has found
the net 9 times so far. Winger Sherzod Temirov was signed from Marsh’Al Mubarek
but due to a shortage of forwards was temporarily converted into a make-shift
striker and scored 4 goals in three games. Pakhtakor have defined expectations
to have won 14 out of 16 with 2 draws, to be miles clear at the top of the
table.
Unfancied
Sogidiana, sixth last season, started with an unbeaten run of 11 games from the
start of the season, including a 0-0 draw at Pakhtakor, to look like challenging
Pakhtakor, but their form has since slipped, with only 2 wins in past 5 games,
and they currently lie 14 points behind Pakhtakor, but two points ahead of
AGMK.
Perhaps the
remaining interest is at the bottom of the table, and today’s match features
two sides in the bottom 5, where one side is automatically relegated and the second
bottom team face a relegation play-off.
Home side
Mash’Al Mubarek are currently 10th in the table, having finished 10th
in 2020. Last time out they won 2-1 at Metallurg, and have taken 7 points out
of last 4 matches. They have a 3-1-3 home record with their highest attendance
for the season being 3,200 for their win over third placed AGMK.
Mubarek is
520km south-west of the capital Tashkent and their side play in the 10,000
capacity Bahrom Vafoev stadium.
Four
foreign players are permitted in the Uzbek Super League, and all four for
Mash’Al come from Nigeria. Midfielder Ifenayi Ifenayi has 6 caps, midfielder
Michael Ibe was signed partway through last season from Andijon, striker Samuel
Onowinu is their top scorer with 4 goals, and fellow forward Godwin Okwara has
one goal. Uzbek International forward Khumoyun Murtazoev ( 1 cap ) scored two
goals but then left the club in July to join Turan, leaving Onowinu as the only
player to have scored more than one goal this season.
Andijon is
located 350km east of Tashkent, and so faced a 635km journey to get to today’s
match. They only survived in the Super League by winning a relegation play-off at Neftchi Farg’ona, who were weakened
by suspensions after their disgraceful behaviour in losing the winner takes all
final league game of the season against Turan.
PFK Andijon are one of the best supported sides in the country,
13,800 attended their home win over Surkhon Termez in first home game of season
and 8,524 watched the 1-1 draw with Mash’Al in the reverse fixture. However,
they currently sit bottom of the table with just 9 points from 16 games, not
helped by a 1-0-7 away record.
In a bid to
move away from the danger zone, Andijon have signed three players who were
playing in the Belarus Premier League earlier this year, namely ex-Neman Grodno
attacking midfielder Pavel Zabelin, whilst centre-back/defensive midfielder
Vasiliy Sovpel and Kazakh midfielder/forward Vladislav Vasiliyev ( 5 caps )
joined on loan from Energetik BGU. Their fourth foreign player is ex Levski
Sofia and Botev Plovdiv Bulgarian centre-back Plamen Dimov. The new signings
did help Andijon to take 5 points from 3 games, but they have since lost their
last two matches, including a 1-4 home lost to Bunyodkor in their most recent
game.
The temperature at kick-off was around 33 degrees
when the game kicked-off at 16.45 local time, but the match was played behind
closed door as no spectators have been allowed to attend matches in Uzbekistan
since the first week of July.
The match was available to watch
via live streams on both Eleven Sports ( formerly MyCujoo ) and Bet365.com, who
had Mash’Al Mubarek 1/2 favourites to win, with Andijon at 5/1 and the draw at
5/2.
Mash’Al Mubarek made two changes
from their 2-1 at Metallurg, with Shodmonov and Shukurullaev coming into the
side at the expense of Alikulov and Bakhodirov, who both dropped to the bench.
All four of their Nigerians started.
In contrast, Andijon made 5
changes to the side that lost 1-4 to Bunyodkor, with Zabelin and Vasiljev among
those being axed, although Sovpel did return to the side together with
Bulgarian Dimov, in a line-up that looked a lot more defensively orientated.
Zabelin at least took a place amongst the substitutes, although Vasiljev was completely
missing.
The match got off to a very
cagey start, with neither side doing much pressing, and we had to wait until
the 19th minute for the first action of note, when Andijon won the
first corner of the game. This was immediately consecutively followed by three
more, none of which were particularly threatening, and Mash’Al eventually
cleared.
One of Andijon’s main tactics
was the long throw from Gulomov, but these were also easily defended, and the
one time Gulomov caused a surprise by throwing short to an unmarked team-mate,
the subsequent cross was far too long and went out for a goal-kick.
It was a little unexpected
when Andijon took the lead in the 31st minute. Isroilov pounced on a
loose clearance inside the Mash’Al area and made for the by-line, but Allaev’s
challenge was clumsy and unnecessary and gave away a needless penalty. After a
long delay to treat the injured player and many of the players taking an
opportunity for a drinks break, Ismonaliev drilled the spot-kick low to the Eshbutaev’s
right whilst the keeper went the other way. However, the referee ordered a
retake for some blatant encrouchment, which Ismonaliev sent into the top
left-hand corner as the keeper again guessed wrongly.
Mash’Al registered their
first shot 5 minutes later but Ibe’s long range effort went well wide and
presented little danger. Three minutes before the break, Sovpel managed to find
some space behind the Mash’Al backline, but his pull-back was partially cleared
to the edge of the area and the resulting shot was blocked by a defender.
Andijon looked to be heading
for a deserved lead at the interval, they had played some neat football albeit
lacking the final pass, and had forced 8 corners to 1. Mash’Al had looked poor,
had created nothing and seemed to lack desire and energy. Then in the second
added minute, Nurmatov delivered a good bouncing cross, but with an open goal, somehow
Okwara managed to steer the ball over the bar from inside the 6 yard area when
it looked easier to score. In doing so, he also prevented Yuldashev from having
an easy tap-in and as a result, Mash’Al failed to go in at half-time on level
terms.
In was a different game in
the second half, as the wind appeared to be noticeably stronger and the
goal-kicks from the Andijon keeper struggled to reach the half-way line.
Consequently, most of the play was in the Andijon half, with the visitors
reduced to counter-attacks as their forward players rarely succeeded in holding
the ball up.
Mash’Al, wearing light and
dark blue quartered shirts, looked similar from a distance to Wycombe
Wanderers, and their play also resembled the Chairboys at times, as the looked
to play route 1 football. Ibe did force a decent tip over the bar from Adkhamov,
but a succession of optimistic shots and free-kicks sailed anywhere but close
to the goal, or weakly straight to the keeper. Adkhamov had a pretty easy
afternoon.
Andijon’s best efforts in the
second half were a driving effort from Gulonjonov which Eshbutaev tipped wide
at full stretch and Isroliov shot narrowly wide from just outside the area
after a corner was headed away from goal. There was an inevitable melee over
nothing fifteen minutes from time, perhaps to show that both sides did care
about the result.
With just under five minutes
left, Ifeanyi volleyed a couple of yards wide, and deep into added on time,
Shaymanov’s miss-hit shot on the bounce curled slowly over the bar. In truth, Mash’Al
didn’t really look like they were going to score, and they were innocuous going
forward. It was hardly surprising that only one of their players has scored
more than once this season, and Ononiwu was virtually invisible today.
This was hardly a great
advert for the Uzbek Super League, but perhaps a poor quality encounter should having been expected given both side’s
places in the league table. However, Andijon probably care very little about this
as the three points pulled them level with Turan at the bottom of the table
FK Mash’Al Mubarek
: Eshbutaev – Shodmonov ( Bakhodirov ), Allaev, Shukurullaev, Ubaydullaev–Ifeanyo,
Ibe ( Shaymanov ), Nurmatov ( Sagdullaev ), Yuldashev ( Alikulov ) – Ononiwu,
Okwara ( Akromov )
PFK Andijon
: Adkhamov – Gulomov, Dimov, Khursandov,
Kamolov – Sovpel, Toirov
( Rahimkulov ), Gulomjonov ( Zabelin ), Kosimov, Isroilev ( Ismoilov ) – Ismonaliev
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