Azerbaijan round-up: Neftchi join Shamkir at summit

FC Neftchi joined FC Shamkir at the top of the Yuksek Deste table on 34 points with a comprehensive 5-0 home win over FC Shahdag Qusar on Monday.

Ismaylov on target
Farruh Ismaylov started the rout in the sixth minute and Samir Aliyev doubled the tally after 24 minutes to send the home side into the break two goals up. Gurban Gurbanov added a third eight minutes into the second period and Nadir Nabiyev's 56th minute effort made it 4-0. Elchin Rahmanov became the fifth man to add his name to the scoresheet with an 87th-minute strike to wrap up a comfortable victory.

Kapaz stay third
FC Kapaz remain in third, five points behind the leaders, after a similarly convincing 4-0 home win over FC OMIK Baku. A ninth-minute opener from Rovshan Suleymanov set them on their way and Kenan Kerimov slotted in the second after 25 minutes. Fazil Parvarov made it three for the home side minutes before the break to all but end the tie as a contest. Then, 12 minutes into the second period, Nabi Khanchigazov rounded off a good days work with a fourth. Despite OIK's lowly position in the league they still have three games in hand over most of the other clubs in the league.

Shafa on the move
FC Shafa moved up to fourth after a 4-1 away win over FC Umid. The home side took a surprise lead in the 33rd minute through Taleh Mamedov but from then on it was one way traffic. The equaliser arrived nine minutes later courtesy of a Zaur Tagizade free-kick, and both sides went into the second period all square. Tagizade got his second shortly after the break and Emin Imamaliev took the score on to 3-1 with 65 minutes gone. Aftandil Gadzhiev then made it 4-1 as the game approached the final quarter to put a seal on the win.