Azerbaijan round-up: Shamkir maintain lead

Yuksek Deste leaders FC Shamkir enjoyed a 3-0 win over bottom-of-the-table FC Dinamo-Bakili in Baku on Sunday.

Early goals
All the goals came before half-time, as the title-holders recorded a comfortable away win in the capital. Makhmud Gurbanov was on target in the 12th minute, Badri Kvaratskhelia found the net in the 20th and Alay Bahramov completed the scoring eight minutes before the interval.

Shafa ease to victory
Fourth-placed FC Shafa also won 3-0 against lowly FC Shahdag Qusar. Shafa were awarded a penalty after just five minutes, but Emin Imamaliev missed the spot-kick. Five minutes later, however, the Azerbaijan national team captain, Tarlan Akhmedov, opened the scoring with a thundering free-kick. Adyl Shukurov doubled the lead in the 20th minute with a swerving shot, but for all their dominance Shafa managed just one more goal, through Samir Musayev 11 minutes after half-time.

Neftchi keep pressure on leaders
Bahtiyar Musayev scored in the 66th minute to give second-placed FC Neftchi a 1-0 win over mid-table FC Turan. The former league leaders remain two points adrift of the champions. Elsewhere, Artur Kishev scored twice as FC Karabakh Agdam beat FC Kapaz 3-2.