League

Lökbatan
Spectators: 7080 (Terracing: 5500, Seating: 1500, VIP seats: 80) XTQ FK's Sälim Rüstämov started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. Rashed Al Hadhod did some fancy footwork in front of goal and succeeded to deceive the defenders so he could slam the ball in 1-1 to the left of a surprised Zaur Äläsgärov 9 minutes into the match. Zaur Äläsgärov took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Rashed Al Hadhod, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 14th minute Rashed Al Hadhod shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Zaur Äläsgärov saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 18 minutes into the game, Sälim Rüstämov cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 1-2. Julio Corral was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. Julio Corral made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Sälim Rüstämov in the 23rd minute of play. In the 26thth minute of the game Pierre-Antoine Houdini who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but FK Baku's Julio Corral was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. FK Baku were awarded a corner in the 30th minute after XTQ FK's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Ilyas Talıblı took the corner. Ilyas Talıblı made a great header on FK Baku's corner, it was just that XTQ FK's Zaur Äläsgärov managed to reach the ball for a save. Pierre-Antoine Houdini fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 33rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Julio Corral having to interfere. In the 34th minute Joel Rebelo shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Julio Corral saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. A nice corner shot did that Rüfät Balağayev got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Julio Corral quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. In the 37thth minute of the game Rashed Al Hadhod who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but XTQ FK's Zaur Äläsgärov was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. In the 47th minute, Pierre-Antoine Houdini hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 1-2.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Rashed Al Hadhod to make the kick off. The audience thought a goal was coming when Pierre-Antoine Houdini got free with Julio Corral in the 52nd minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. If Rashed Al Hadhod had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 55th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Julio Corral made a fantastic save in the 60th minute, when Yasin Häbibov sent off a good shot on target. FK Baku's Julio Corral played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Joel Rebelo in the 61st minute of play. In the 62nd minute the ball was on its way in behind XTQ FK's goalkeeper Zaur Äläsgärov, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. 63 minutes had been played when some careless play by XTQ FK's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Ilyas Talıblı was slow to take the kick. During this time FK Baku's players had a chance to rest. The corner led FK Baku's Ilyas Talıblı to fire away a dangerous shot which Zaur Äläsgärov despite some difficulties managed to get hold on the ball. Zaur Äläsgärov made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Rashed Al Hadhod in the 67th minute of play. 67 minutes into the game, Rashed Al Hadhod cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 2-2. Zaur Äläsgärov was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. With an all-out effort, XTQ FK's Julio Corral threw himself towards the right post 73 minutes into the match and grabbed hold of the ball from Sälim Rüstämov, which otherwise would have been placed in the net. In the 74th minute XTQ FK were awarded a corner. Rüfät Balağayev went to the cornerflag to take it. The corner ended in Rüfät Balağayev almost managing to get the ball behind the net, but FK Baku's Julio Corral did a great save. After some fancy dribbling in the 79th minute, Pierre-Antoine Houdini managed to get in a good position for a shot. XTQ FK's supporters rose to their feet, but Pierre-Antoine Houdini was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Julio Corral breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. 84 minutes into the game, Sälim Rüstämov cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 2-3. Julio Corral was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ramiq Muradov in the 88th minute of play forced XTQ FK's goalkeeper Zaur Äläsgärov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 89 minutes into the match, FK Baku's goalkeeper Julio Corral had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Sälim Rüstämov. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Rashed Al Hadhod in the 91st managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Zaur Äläsgärov saved XTQ FK from getting behind. In the 94th minute, Rashed Al Hadhod got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. XTQ FK's supporters were very happy and cheered loudly because their team had won after a very close match.