Kabala edged Mil-Mugan 2:1 in Azerbaijan's Premier League on Thursday, picking up their first point of the campaign after three winless outings. The visitors had led at half-time but the hosts turned it around after the break to claim a hard-fought victory.
K. Mabea opened the scoring in the 15th minute, slotting home from close range to give Kabala the lead. But D. Dos Santos worked his way into a penalty area and was brought down, only to later convert his spot-kick in 45+2 minutes to level matters just before the interval.
And here's the thing about this match — it was decided by two goals in the second half. K. Rossi headed home the winner in the 66th minute, and by then the game had slipped away from Mil-Mugan. Rossi collected a yellow card himself five minutes later, while three more bookings followed in quick succession.
Three substitutions were made during the match, with F. Nabiyev coming on in the 62nd minute for Kabala. M. Ubochioma replaced a midfielder in the 76th minute, and K. Rossi was taken off in the 86th minute after his goal. E. Ahmadov rounded off the changes in the 87th minute.
To be fair, this result didn't shift the table dramatically. Kabala remain 10th with one point from three games, while Mil-Mugan sit 6th on four points. The gap between them is still narrow, but the hosts have finally broken their streak.
Kabala's recent form had been concerning — two draws and two losses in their previous four matches, including a goalless draw with Shamakhy last week. They hadn't scored since their 3:1 win over Shamakhy back in May.
Mil-Mugan showed more consistency in their opening three games, winning once and drawing twice. Their 1:0 victory over Safa Baku last time out suggested they could challenge for European spots if they maintained this level.
What this means is that Kabala have stopped the rot, but one point doesn't solve their problems. They still need to find a way to win matches, not just salvage results from losing positions.