Dordei Bishkek and Neftchi met in the Premier League regular season on Thursday, and the hosts ran out 5-1 winners. The scoreline came after seven goals in the match, with a red card adding drama to the final quarter. By then, the visitors had already lost their footing.
Goals came at 13 minutes, 40 minutes, and 45 plus six minutes before the break. Neftchi's defender picked up a red card in the 85th minute, leaving them down to ten men. Dordei Bishkek struck twice in stoppage time, at 90 plus seven and 90 plus nine.
And here's the thing about the table. The hosts sit eighth with 29 points from 23 games, while Neftchi are eleventh on 26 points from 22 matches. The gap between them looks smaller on paper, but this result shifts the balance considerably.
Recent form tells a different story for each side. Dordei Bishkek had already beaten Kara-Balta 5-1 on the 3rd of August and drew with Talant before that. Neftchi won 2-0 against Talant in their last outing and had gone into this match on a better run than their league position suggested.
To be fair, the visitors had shown they could score. Three wins and a draw in their previous five games before this fixture. But when the red card came, the match slipped away. There is unrest in the dressing room after a result like that, and the points they needed are now harder to find.