Defending national futsal champion Kairat of Almaty defeated Semey on Saturday, September 19, in the third round of the regular season of the national championship and moved into first place in the regular season, reports infohub.kz.
The regular season of the national futsal championship started a week ago, and after the first two rounds there were four leaders, each with two wins. The table was topped by vice-champion Semey, which scored 17 goals in two matches against top-flight debutant Okzhetpes of Kokshetau. Caspian also had 6 points after two away wins over Astana, as did defending champion Kairat, which twice beat another debutant, Elorda, and Aktobe, which twice won away against Shymkent.
The third round on Saturday, September 19, began with one of the leading quartet dropping out: Caspian unexpectedly lost to Elorda 4:7 in the capital and fell to fifth place with 6 points. The central match of the third round took place in Almaty between the two finalists of last season — local Kairat and Semey. The visitors opened the scoring first: former Kairat captain Birzhan Orazov struck against his former club, but then Semey goalkeeper Jaime was sent off, and Azat Valiullin equalized.
Soon after, another former Kairat player, Chingiz Yesenamanov, put the visitors ahead again, but Atirson Oliveira and Kaio Ruiz gave the Almaty club a 3:2 lead by halftime. And when Zhakhangir Rashit and Kaio Ruiz extended Kairat's advantage after the break, it might have seemed the match was decided. However, two Semey legionnaires, Pedrinho and Dedezinho, reduced their team's deficit to a minimum, and the visitors desperately tried to equalize, but ran out of time — 5:4 in favor of Kairat.
The Almaty team now has 9 points and becomes the leader of the regular season, albeit only on goal difference, since another member of the leading quartet, Aktobe, managed to snatch a last-minute away win against Okzhetpes 3:2 and also has 9 points. Third place with 7 points is occupied by Atyrau, which won away against Shymkent 4:2 on Saturday, and Rudny's Ayat also has 7 points after beating local Tulpar 3:1 in Karaganda.
Semey and Caspian with 6 points now share fifth and sixth places, Tulpar with 5 points is seventh, Elorda is eighth with 3 points, Ural's Baiterek is ninth with 1 point after two matches, and Astana, Shymkent, and Okzhetpes have yet to earn any points. On Sunday, September 20, the fourth round will feature return matches in the same pairs, with the central clash again in Almaty between Kairat and Semey.