In the 17th round of Kazakhstan's second-tier football division, Shakhter defeated Kaspiy-M 1:0, while Kairat-Zhastar lost by the same score to Elimai-M, reports infohub.kz.
The Karaganda side, who took the top spot last round, confirmed their leader status. Andrei Finonchenko's men beat the guests from Aktau on their home turf. In the closing stages of the match, midfielder Andrei Ulshin, arriving late in the box, fired into an empty net from the edge of the area. Kaspiy's goalkeeper Dias Reimov had not recovered his position after the previous wave of orange-and-black attacks.
Kairat-Zhastar unexpectedly lost to the underdogs in Semey. The only goal came just before the hour mark, scored by Maksat Sergazy. His teammates set him up one-on-one with the visiting keeper, and he made no mistake against Bakhtiyar Aldashev.
The formidable attack of the young Kairat players, Azamat Tuyakbayev and Mansur Birkurmanov, who had already made their mark in the Champions League qualifiers, were silent this time. The 'from ship to ball' format (just two days earlier, they, along with Adlan Nurgaliyev, were in Sofia) proved too much for them. Kairat-Zhastar suffered their first defeat in the 2026 First League.
The 17th round of the First League concludes today.