Araz drew 2-2 with Turan Tovuz in the Azerbaijan Premier League's fifth round on Saturday, a result that left the home side still searching for their first victory of the campaign. The match unfolded at a brisk pace with three goals in the second half alone, and here's the thing about that second half — it was the visitors who came closest to taking all three points before Araz found an equaliser late on.
E. Hackman opened the scoring in the seventh minute with an own goal, a moment that set the tone for Araz's afternoon. I. Wadji brought the home side level in the 51st minute before Jo Batista took the lead in the 75th, and then A. Salyanskiy responded four minutes later to ensure the points would be shared. By then the game had opened up, with both sides pushing for a winner after the substitutions started flowing at the interval.
Araz made five changes on the hour mark, bringing on E. Hackman, D. Balau, R. Olabe, M. Ahmadzada and R. Muradov in one sweeping move. M. Mara received a yellow card in the 26th minute before being substituted at the death, while O. Buludov and A. Kenyaykin also went into the referee's book for the visitors. M. Kane was the latest to receive a caution, arriving in the 90th minute as the match entered its final stages.
The statistics tell a story of two teams trading blows rather than one dominating. Araz registered 102 attacks against 101 for the visitors, while possession sat almost evenly split at 47 per cent to 53. Shots on target favoured the away side 4-2, yet the hosts managed to equalise after going behind — and here's the thing about that second half, it was the home side who came out on top despite being outshot.
To be fair, the result does little to shift the table dramatically. Araz remain in 11th place with two points from five games, still winless after defeats to Qarabag, Sabah and Neftchi Baku. Turan Tovuz sit fifth with eight points, having won twice and drawn twice, though the draw ends a run of two successive victories that included a 2-1 win over Sumgait.
Our prediction had backed the visitors at 44 per cent confidence, but the match went another way entirely. The home side weathered the storm in the second half, showing enough resilience to hold on after Jo Batista's goal looked set to secure all three points. Araz may still be winless, but they have now taken a point from five games — and that, for a side that has lost three of their last five, is something to build on.