Saburalo secured a narrow 2:1 victory over Samsurgali in the Erovnuli Liga's 24th round on Saturday evening, a result that keeps the hosts within touching distance of the upper echelon. The match, played under floodlights in Tbilisi, produced three penalties and a late drama that decided everything.
The opening exchanges belonged to Samsurgali, who seized the initiative and earned a spot-kick after twelve minutes. Jemali-Giorgi Jinjolava stepped up for Saburalo and converted, though the home side had to wait until the thirty-third minute to respond. Levan Gegetchkori produced the second penalty, sending the away keeper the wrong way and levelling the contest.
By then things had settled into a rhythm where both sides camped in the final third, but neither could find a breakthrough. Saburalo threw bodies forward, with Giorgi Kobuladze making an early substitution at twenty-eight minutes before Niko Tsetskhladze arrived at the break. Samsurgali matched them with their own changes, bringing on Irakli Bidzinashvili in the sixty-first minute.
The decisive moment arrived in stoppage time. Nikoloz Botchorishvili struck in the eighty-ninth minute, a shot that beat the keeper and sent the home end into raptures. The away side had their chances too — Ryan and Vianna Vinicius both picked up yellow cards as tensions mounted — but the visitors could not find an equaliser before the final whistle.
The statistics told a familiar story of possession without penetration. Saburalo controlled 70 per cent of the ball but registered sixteen shots off target alongside seven on target. Samsurgali managed 30 per cent possession with four shots off target and four on target, a ratio that suggests efficiency when opportunities arose, even if the result did not reflect it.
The win moves Saburalo further away from the relegation battle, while Samsurgali remain in seventh place with thirty-two points from twenty-four games. The hosts sit fourth with twenty-two points, a gap that feels manageable when you consider the form both sides have shown this season.