Turkestan, November 7. Shymkent’s Ordabasy beat Kyzylorda’s Kaisar 4–1 in the Kazakhstan Cup final and won the trophy for the third time, the club said.
In the match at Turkistan Arena, Sultanbek Astanov scored in the 7th minute, Norway’s Bjorn Johnsen in the 41st, Ghana’s David Abagna in the 60th and Elkhan Astanov in the 71st. Kaisar pulled one back in the 85th minute through Portuguese forward Agostinho Azevedo. The goal minutes, apart from the last, match the Kazakhstan Football Federation’s broadcast, which has Kaisar’s goal in the 84th minute, not the 85th. Ordabasy beat Kaisar by the same 4–1 away in the league, so the final followed a familiar script.
The Cup victory gave Ordabasy a “golden double.” The team, coached by Moldova’s Andrei Martin, won the national championship ahead of schedule and, as Sportnur noted, took the Cup for the third time. Ordabasy finished the league first with 68 points, Sports.kz reported. Before the final Sports.kz wrote that this would be the first golden double in ten years, since Astana. Kaisar finished the league last with 25 points; two rounds before the end of the season, the team was taken over by Talgat Baisufinov, former head coach of Kazakhstan’s national team.
The final’s result also settled the question of European places. As champion, Ordabasy had already secured a spot in European competitions, so the extra Conference League berth that goes to the Cup winner passes to Okzhetpes, who finished fourth, Sports.kz explained.
What it means: The Shymkent club closed the season with two trophies out of two. The final held no surprise: the best team in the league beat the worst the way it had beaten it in the league.
Who benefits: Ordabasy and Shymkent: two trophies in a season. Okzhetpes of Kokshetau: by Sports.kz’s reckoning, the club gets an extra Conference League berth.
Background: The Kazakhstan Cup is a national knockout tournament; this year’s final kicked off at 16:00 at Turkistan Arena, the Kazakhstan Football Federation said. Ordabasy won the national title ahead of schedule, in round 29 of 30.
We have also reported on the pre-match meeting of the champion and the league’s last-placed team.
