Astana II put six past Ekibastuz in the First Division on Thursday, running up a 7:1 scoreline at home in Regular Season round 23. The hosts were never in danger of losing after going ahead inside twelve minutes, and they kept coming. By then the visitors had already conceded three, and the pattern was set.
Akhmetov opened the scoring at the twelfth minute, and his partner struck again two minutes later. Anuarov doubled the lead at eighteen, then added his second at nineteen. Kaltanov and Abrayev made it five before the quarter-hour mark had passed, and Amangeldinov finished the first half with a brace, bringing the score to 7:0 at the break.
and here's the thing — the game could have ended earlier, but the hosts kept looking. Kalymbetov pulled one back at fifty-six, Valikhan scored at sixty, and a late goal at ninety-plus-two meant Ekibastuz got something from the fixture. The final whistle found seven goals for the hosts, one for the visitors.
To be fair, the visitors had been struggling before this match. Their last five games brought two wins, one draw, and two defeats, with heavy losses against Tolbo 2 and Arys. Astana II were more inconsistent — they beat Taraz 4:0 but also lost 4:0 to Shakhtyor Karaganda and 3:0 to Khan Tengri.
The result keeps Astana II in seventh place with thirty points from twenty-two games. Ekibastuz remain eighth on twenty-six points, four behind the hosts. Neither side is close to the top, but the gap between them and the teams above is narrowing.
