Shortan moved further clear of the lower half when they beat Yaiapyan 4-1 in the Pro-League A regular season round 18 on Saturday. The visitors took control early and never looked back, extending their unbeaten run to eight matches with the result. To be fair, the gap between the sides in the table had been growing for a while now.
Yaiapyan opened the scoring at 36 minutes through S. Kuziev, a moment that briefly lifted the home crowd. Shortan responded before the break when A. Abdirasulov found the net at 45+2. And here's the thing, after that half-time break the visitors ran the show. A. Murodov added a second at 56, then B. Kharshiladze and G. Qodirov rounded off the scoring at 73 and 84.
We'd backed the away win with 59 per cent confidence before kick-off, and the result proved that call right. Shortan's form had been steady enough, with only one loss in their last five including that 4-2 win over Baksdu. Yaiapyan's recent run was more erratic—three losses in five, including that 1-3 defeat to Jaiqsun.
The standings tell the story clearly enough. Shortan sit second with 36 points from 18 games, their 11 victories keeping them in the hunt. Yaiapyan remain ninth with 21 points, six wins and nine defeats a pattern that hasn't shifted much this season. By then the visitors had stretched the gap to 15 points.
This result means Shortan hold the tie in their own hands for whatever comes next in the table. Yaiapyan face another difficult patch away from home if they want to climb out of the bottom half. The scoreline reflected a performance that felt inevitable once the visitors took the lead.