Kazakh champions Kairat Almaty snatched a 1-0 victory over relegation-threatened Zhetysu Taldykorgan in the 28th round of the 2026 Kazakhstan Premier League, with Spanish forward Marc Gual scoring the winner, infohub.kz reports.

On Thursday, October 15, Kairat will begin their main Conference League campaign with an away match against Riga. The home game against Zhetysu served as a dress rehearsal for the European autumn. Both teams desperately needed points: Kairat in the title race, Zhetysu in the fight for survival.

Kairat Nurdaulentov's side, facing severe financial difficulties, held the draw for 86 minutes. But in the 87th minute, a long-range strike from Kairat's Spanish player Marc Gual found the net — 1-0.

With a hard-fought win, Rafael Urazbakhtin's men closed in on Ordabasy, though the Shymkent club has a game in hand.

The battle for European spots continues. Astana, the bronze favorites, lost 1-2 in Kostanay. A goal from Croatia's Karlo Bartolec, who equalized early in the second half, was not enough for a draw. Morocco's Mohamed Amine Talal and Belarus's Vitaly Lisakovich gave Tobol another win over a Top-3 team. Earlier, Miroslav Romashchenko's side had heavily beaten Kairat.

KAZAKHSTAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2026. Round 28 matches. October 10:

IRTYSH (Pavlodar) — KYZYLZHAR (Petropavl) 0-2 (0-1). Goals: Abiken 9 (0-1), Latifi 71 penalty (0-2).

ELIMAI (Semey) — AKTOBE 1-3 (0-1). Goals: Yerlanov 15 (0-1), Odjo 49 (0-2), Kairov 83 own goal (1-2), Shushenachev 89 (1-3).

TOBOL (Kostanay) — ASTANA 2-1 (1-0). Goals: Talal 28 (1-0), Bartolec 52 (1-1), Lisakovich 61 (2-1).

KAIRAT (Almaty) — ZHETISU (Taldykorgan) 1-0 (0-0). Goal: Gual 87. Sent off: Kashken (Z, 90).

ZHENIS (Astana) — ATYRAU to be completed later.

Aktobe, joining the bronze race, secured an important 3-1 win over Elimai. All goals in Semey were scored by Aktobe players: Temirlan Yerlanov, England's Sheyi Odjo and Artur Shushenachev into the opponent's net, Bagdat Kairov into his own.

Kyzylzhar, with goals from Aibol Abiken and Albania's Laridon Latifi, won in Pavlodar and practically secured a place in the 2027 Premier League. The fight for survival for Vitaly Zhukovsky's team is essentially over.

Round 28 will conclude tomorrow with matches Kaisar — Ordabasy, Ulutau — Okzhetpes and Kaspiy — Altai.