Azerbaijan round-up: Shamkir come unstuck

FK Shamkir suffered their second defeat of the season at the hands of FK MOIK Baku, while leaders FK Karabakh-Azersun recorded a huge win against FK Umid in the latest round of Azeri games.

Kulikov miss
Shamkir should have taken the lead in the first half, but Ukrainian Viktor Kulikov failed from the penalty spot. Indeed, the game seemed to be drifting towards a scoreless draw until, eight minutes before the full-time whistle, Zaur Ramazanov struck for MOIK.

Impressive Karabakh
Meanwhile, Karabakh recorded an impressive 7-1 win against Umid, with Russian striker Dmitri Kudinov registering a hat-trick. FK Khazar Universiteti were in even more ruthless form, beating FK Kapaz 8-0 while FK Bakili scored five against PFK Turan, with Yalchin Bagirov notching a treble.

Dinamo draw
FK Dinamo Baku drew 1-1 at FK Shahdag-Samur Gusar while FK Neftchi recorded a 2-0 victory against FK Lokomotiv Imishli. FC Khazar fell 1-0 at home to FK Shafa. Khazar were reduced to ten men after 40 minutes when Ramin Guseynov was sent off for a second bookable offence, but the hosts still looked the better side throughout most of the second half.

Shafa class tells
However, Shafa's class ultimately told with Ruslan Musayev's long-range effort settling the game. The result means that Shafa stay within one point of Karabakh at the top of the table, while Neftchi trail the leaders by three points.