Fardu claimed a straightforward 3-1 win against Baxdau in the Pro-League A on Tuesday evening, moving further clear of trouble at the bottom of the table. The hosts were always going to be favourites given the gulf in form between fourth place and twelfth, and they delivered without fuss. M. Komilov opened the scoring in the 16th minute and doubled his tally five minutes later, giving his side control before the break.
By then we had already picked this result, calling for the home side with 85 per cent confidence before kick-off. It was never a guess — the gap in points, 39 to 10, told the whole story. Baxdau have lost 16 of their 20 games this season and were not going to overturn that pattern in one afternoon.
M. Abelfazov extended the lead in the 40th minute, and just when it looked like a routine afternoon for the hosts, S. Rahmatov pulled one back in the 75th. The goal did not change anything. Fardu had given nothing away all evening and were happy to see out the final quarter without panic.
The home side have kept three clean sheets on the spin now, and this result leaves them nine points clear of fifth place. Baxdau remain rooted to the foot of the table with just 10 points from 20 matches. They cannot afford another defeat like this one if they want to avoid a relegation battle.
We saw this coming weeks ago. The table goes out of the window in these games, but Fardu have been the more consistent side throughout the campaign. A fourth straight win for the hosts, and another step towards securing their top-half ambitions.