Football club «Arkadag» won a confident victory over the seaside «Shagadam» from Turkmenbashy in a rescheduled match of the 25th round of the Turkmenistan Premier League. The match, which took place at the stadium in the Babarap etrap of the Gokdepe etrap of the Ahal velayat, ended with a 4-0 rout for the visitors.
The fate of the match was decided in the first half, when the hosts scored all four goals within 23 minutes. Resul Hojayev opened the scoring in the 17th minute, confidently converting a penalty. 15 minutes later, Bayram Atayev doubled the lead of the home team. In the 39th minute, Yazgylych Gurbanov scored the third goal into the goal of the visitors, making the score crushing. And in the 40th minute of the game, Begench Akmammedov scored the fourth goal and set the final score of the match – 4:0.
Initially the match was scheduled for the 1st of November, but was moved up to give the reigning champions, Turkmenistan, the opportunity to fully prepare for the crucial international game.
The game against «Shagadam» was final rehearsal of «Arkadag» before the away match of the second round of the AFC-2 Champions League. On the 14th of October, the Turkmen club will play in Abu Dhabi at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium against the local «Al-Jazeera».
The opponent of «Arkadag» is quite serious. In the current season of the UAE Pro League (2026/27), «Al Jazeera» is in first place, having earned 13 points in five rounds (4 wins, 1 draw, goal difference 11:2) and ahead of «Al Ain» on additional indicators. According to the Transfermarkt portal, the Emirati club has four of the most expensive players in the league: Brazilians Malcom (€18 million) and Talisca (€7 million), Albanian Kristjan Asllani (€12 million) and Nigerian Anthony Dennis (€8 million).
Let us remind that the opening round of the AFC-2 Champions League group stage was successful for «Arkadag». On their home field, the Turkmen club beat «Al-Muharraq» of Bahrain with a score of 1:0 thanks to the only goal by Mekan Saparov, who headed in a corner kick in the 52nd minute. Since «Gol Gohar» of Iran and «Al-Jazeera» drew 0:0 in the parallel Group «B» match, «Arkadag» leads the standings with 3 points. The second and third places are shared by the Emirati «Al-Jazeera» and the Iranian «Gol Gohar», with 1 point each. «Al-Muharraq» of Bahrain, which has not yet scored a single point, rounds out the quartet.
At the national level, the team from the city of national importance has already removed all questions about the championship. «Arkadag» secured its fourth Turkmenistan championship title ahead of schedule, five rounds before the end, when it beat «Ahal» 4-0 in a rescheduled match of the 23rd round.
«Arkadag» striker Didar Durdyyev is also the clear leader in the top scorer race of the championship. The top scorer of the last four seasons has scored 22 goals (4 from penalties). His closest pursuer, «Ahal» forward Suleyman Mirzoyev, is lagging behind by a large margin: he has 10 goals (2 from penalties).