«Arkadag» earned another point in the AFC-2 Champions League, drawing 1-1 with «Andijan» of Uzbekistan in the 5th round of Group «B».
The game took place at the «Bobur Arena» in «Andijan» in front of 15 000 spectators, as reported turkmenistan.gov.tm.
As a reminder, «Arkadag» and «Andijan» are both making their debut in the AFC-2 Champions League. «Arkadag» is participating in second-largest club competition of Asia for the first time as the winner of the 2024/25 AFC Challenge League (the third-ranking tournament in Asia). And «Andijan» won the Uzbekistan Cup for the first time in its history last year, qualifying for the AFC-2 Champions League. In the current national championship, with one game remaining in the Uzbekistan Super League, «Andijan» is in 11th place among 16 teams. «Arkadag» successfully defended its title as strongest club of Turkmenistan, winning the national championship for the third consecutive time.
With the starting whistle from Kuwaiti referee Abdullah Jamali, the hosts launched an attack. Having withstood the onslaught, men of Vladimir Bayramov soon settled into a calmer atmosphere. The first half was devoid of any real scoring opportunities. The main events of the match occurred after the break.
In the 63rd minute, «Andijan» opened the scoring: Abdulvohid Gulomov crossed from the right flank to Nigerian international Ismaheel Akinade, who won an aerial duel with Ibrahim Mammedov and headed the ball into the goal. Video replays showed the Nigerian was offside at the time of the pass, but due to the lack of VAR in AFC Champions League matches, the goal was upheld.
«Andijan» could have snatched victory late in the match. But two superb saves by Resul Charyyev in the first minute of stoppage time secured a 1-1 draw.
Notably, this is the fifth consecutive draw for «Andijan» of Uzbekistan and the third for «Arkadag» of Turkmenistan.
