A preview of the final round of the girls’ competition.
Gold and silver have already been decided: Kairat retained the title, while Astana, just as last year, secured second place.
The battle for bronze, however, has gone all the way to the final round, with three teams still in contention for the final podium spot.
All four matches will kick off simultaneously at 11:00.
Aktobe – Tobyl
The headline fixture of the round is a direct clash between two bronze contenders. Tobyl sit third on 20 points, Aktobe are fifth with 17, while Shakhter are sandwiched between them on 20.
Just two rounds ago, the Kostanay side were some way behind their rivals, but victories over Kaisar (4–0) and Ordabasy (3–2) lifted them into third place. Tobyl have collected 12 points from their last five matches.
Their fate is now in their own hands: a win guarantees bronze, while a draw will be enough if Shakhter fail to beat Astana. Tobyl and Shakhter are level on points, but Denis Safronov’s side are ahead on the head-to-head record after results of 4–1 and 0–0.
For Aktobe, only one scenario will do – they must win and hope Shakhter lose. That would leave all three teams on 20 points, with Aktobe finishing highest on the additional tiebreak criteria.
It is far from a straightforward task. The Red and Whites have lost their last two matches, away in Karaganda and Astana. On the other hand, Aktobe have only been beaten at home this season by the competition’s top two teams, Kairat and Astana.
The reverse fixture also went Aktobe’s way. Alua Kaliyeva scored the only goal in Kostanay as early as the seventh minute to seal a 1–0 victory.
Shakhter – Astana
The capital side are guaranteed to finish second, but Shakhter desperately need points.
To climb into third place, the Karaganda side must collect more points than Tobyl in the final round. A win will secure bronze if Denis Safronov’s team fail to win in Aktobe, while a draw will only be enough if Tobyl lose.
The previous round was a difficult one for Shakhter, who were beaten 13–0 by Kairat. Before that, however, the Karaganda side had won three consecutive matches.
Shakhter’s overall goal difference is negative (-17), but that is largely the result of their two meetings with the champions. At home, they have only lost to Kairat, recording four wins and a draw in their other matches.
Astana, meanwhile, have enjoyed a remarkably consistent season: ten wins, one draw and only two defeats, against Kairat and Ordabasy.
The first meeting between the teams was one of the most entertaining games of the season. Astana led 2–0, but Shakhter fought back through a Daria Tulegenova brace. She now has seven goals, more than any other player on the team.
The decisive moments came late on. Sofia Rybak and Zhibek Marat scored in the 85th and 88th minutes, while Alexandra Khan’s stoppage-time goal merely completed the scoring in a 4–3 Astana victory. Can Shakhter get their revenge this time?
Kaisar – Kairat
The champions will finish their season in Kyzylorda. Kairat secured a second consecutive title with one round to spare after thrashing Shakhter 13–0. Oksana Kokhannaya’s team have won 12 of their 13 matches, scoring 83 goals and conceding only seven. The only team to beat Kairat were Astana, who won 2–0 in Matchweek 3. Since then, the Almaty side have won ten games in a row.
The main storyline here is Milena Nikolenko’s remarkable individual tally. The striker scored seven goals in the previous round to take her season total to 27, the highest single-season figure in the history of the competition. The previous record also belonged to Nikolenko, who finished as the tournament’s top scorer last year with 24 goals.
She needs a hat-trick to reach the 30-goal mark and just one more goal contribution to hit 40 for the season. In the reverse fixture against Kaisar, she scored four times, opening her account in the very first minute.
Girls’ competition newcomers Kaisar sit bottom of the table with three points. They have now gone four consecutive matches without scoring – can they end that run against the champions?
Ordabasy – Irtysh
Ordabasy have looked strong at home this season, recording two wins, three draws and just one defeat, against Kairat. It was also on home soil that they beat Astana 2–1, something no team other than the champions have managed this season. The previous round, however, left a bitter taste: Ordabasy twice took the lead in Kostanay, only for Tobyl to come back and snatch a 3–2 victory.
Irtysh, meanwhile, ended a four-match losing streak by beating Kaisar 2–0. Their biggest problem has been in attack: they have scored only 12 goals this season, with only the Kyzylorda side managing fewer.
In the reverse fixture, Ordabasy claimed their first victory of the season in Pavlodar, and did so in emphatic fashion with a 5–1 win. Diana Sitnikova and Aruna Nasirali both scored twice, while Valeria Kosareva netted the hosts’ only goal.
Nasirali is currently Ordabasy’s top scorer with seven goals and five assists, while Sitnikova has attempted 77 shots, a tally bettered only by Nikolenko in the competition. Can Irtysh contain the pair and finish the season with back-to-back victories?
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