Kokand-1912 drew 1-1 with Bukhoro in the Superliga's Regular Season round 19 on Sunday. The hosts took the lead through a penalty before Bukhoro fought back to claim a point away from home. Both sides finished with something to prove after differing recent runs of form.
J. Sidikov gave Kokand-1912 the advantage with a penalty in the 49th minute, just after S. Kulmatov had received a yellow card. Bukhoro refused to go away and found an equaliser when S. Ubaydullaev struck in the 90th minute plus two. The drama deepened moments later when Kulmatov was sent off in the 88th minute for his second booking.
There were plenty of changes from both coaches in the second half. Kokand-1912 made five substitutions, while Bukhoro brought on four players. The red card forced the hosts to play the final minutes with ten men, though they managed to see out the game without conceding again.
The statistics told a story of two relatively even contests. Bukhoro held slightly more possession at 53 per cent and registered 76 attacks to their opponents' 72. But the difference came in finishing — Kokand-1912 had three shots on target to Bukhoro's one, and that made the difference between them.
The result keeps both sides in their respective positions. Bukhoro remain in fourth place with 34 points, while Kokand-1912 stay 14th on 19. The draw ended Bukhoro's recent momentum of four wins in five games, but it also halted the visitors' slide after they had lost two of their last three away from home.