Neftchi Baku took all three points against Qabala on Thursday evening, winning 3-0 in the Azerbaijan Premier League's Regular Season round six. The visitors made it four wins from five matches, leaving the hosts rooted to eighth place with just four points from their opening fixtures.
And here's the thing about how this game unfolded, it wasn't sudden. Breno Almeida opened the scoring in the twenty-fifth minute, catching Qabala's defence still settling into their shape. The hosts had 48 per cent possession but struggled to turn that into anything meaningful, their two shots on target doing little to trouble the away keeper.
We had called for the visitors to win this one, and by then it was clear why that analysis held water. Neftchi's coach had made three changes at half-time, bringing on E. Mahmudov, E. Ahmadov and D. Savic, and it showed immediately. The visitors dominated the second half, their nine shots on target telling you where the danger lay.
A. Akinyemi made it two in the eighty-sixth minute, a straightforward finish after Qabala's defence had been stretched thin. Then L. Tupta added the third in stoppage time, 90 minutes plus two, to ensure there'd be no late drama. Three yellow cards for the visitors — V. Sevelj, A. Skribek and R. Abbasov — but none for their caution.
The numbers don't lie about the imbalance. Neftchi registered 94 attacks to Qabala's 82, and while the corner count was level at four apiece, the quality of chances told a different story. The hosts had nine shots off target and only two on target, while the visitors managed eight off target and nine on target. That's the sort of efficiency that separates teams at this level.
Qabala remain on four points from five games, three defeats already weighing on them. Neftchi sit second with twelve points, a gap that will only widen if they maintain this form. The visitors have now ended a run of mixed results with back-to-back victories, and that momentum could prove decisive in the second half of the season.