Footballers of «Ahal» defeated «Kopetdag» of «Ashgabat» 2-0 in a rescheduled match of the 17th round of the Turkmenistan Premier League.

The game took place at «Nisa» Stadium in Ashgabat.

This was the third meeting between these teams in the current national championship. The first two ended in convincing victories for «Ahal» 4-0 in the first round and 3-0 in the second.

This time, goals from Bahtyyar Gurgenov (23rd minute) and Akmammet Metdayev (89th minute) secured victory for the team from the Main directorate of «Turkmennebitonumleri».

Having ended a four-game domestic winless streak, «Ahal» has earned 36 points in 19 games, closing the gap to second-place «Altyn Asyr», which has played three more games, to four points. «Arkadag» leads the league with 63 points after 21 games.

For «Ahal», the recent match against «Kopetdag» served as a good test of strength before their home match against Iranian «Sapahan» in the third round of the AFC Champions League, which will take place on the 21st of October in Isfahan. Earlier, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) excluded Indian club «Mohun Bagan» from the AFC Champions League for failing to appear for an away match against Iranian «Sapahan» and, as a result, annulled victory of «Ahal» 1-0 over the Indian champions in the first round in Kolkata. In this way, after two rounds, Jordanian «Al-Hussein» leads Group «C» of the AFC Champions League with six points, having defeated «Sapahan» 1-0 at home and «Ahal» 4-1 away.

As a reminder, the current AFC Champions League II group stage, formerly known as the AFC Cup, features 31 teams from 22 countries, divided geographically into two zones – Western and Eastern. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Round of 16.