Kazakhstan round-up: Zhenis escape scare

Kazakh league leaders FC Zhenis Astana had to come from behind to beat bottom-placed FC Batys Uralsk on Saturday. Bakhva Ambidze gave Batys a surprise lead but second-half goals from Igor Yurin, Evgeni Lovchev and Igor Zabelin clinched a 3-1 win for Zhenis.

Atyrau run continues
Following a 1-0 victory against FC Ekibastuzets Ekibastuz, FK Atyrau extended their undefeated run to nine games and moved to second place, eight points behind the leaders. Ekibastuzets goalkeeper Viktor Raskulov helped his side with some fine saves, but midfield player Andrei Foshy scored the winner on 61 minutes.

Impressive Zhetysu
FC Zhetysu Taldykorgan recorded an impressive 4-1 win against FC Vostok Ust-Kamenogorsk thanks to goals from Evgeni Glukhov, Ruslan Gumar and Guram Makaev’s double, while FC Kairat Almaty beat FC Kaisar Kyzylorda 2-0 to record their first win under new head coach Leonid Ostroushko. Konstantin Panin and Vladimir Yakovlev hit the goals.

End to a bad run
FC Yesil-Bogatyr Petropavlovsk finally ended their nine-game run without a win as they beat FC Yesil Kokshetau 1-0 thanks to a goal from Kirill Kekker on 75 minutes. Elsewhere, FC Ordabasy Shymkent overcame FC Shakhtyor Karagandy 2-0 and FC Yelimai Semipalatinsk gained a 2-1 victory against lowly 1 FC Taraz.