Zhas Kyran, Astana, Shakhtyor – one will miss out on medals: what to know about Matchweek 21 of the Freedom QJ League

All matches began with a minute of silence in memory of Aron Musa and Dias Tuleu.

Three teams left in the medal race

The intrigue in the fight for silver and bronze remains alive, but the circle of contenders has narrowed. Only Zhas Kyran (40 points), Astana, and Shakhtyor (39 each) still have a chance to share a top-three spot with Kairat — and the first two teams will face each other in the final round.

Ordabasy and Irtysh have dropped out of the race. The Shymkent side lost their hopes for medals after a narrow 0–1 defeat to Astana — the only goal was scored by Alan Azamat from a Maksat Abraev assist. Notably, in the 85th minute, Ordabasy could have equalized from the penalty spot, but Timur Rakhimov hit the crossbar.

As for Pavlodar, they lost 0–3 to Zhas Kyran. The scorers were Azamat Askaruly, Bekzhan Khafizov, and Alen Shakirov, while Zhangirkhan Zhankurazov registered two assists.

Makridov ends his season early

Shakhtyor narrowly defeated Kostanay’s Tobol. All goals came in the first half: Ilya Gezik opened the scoring in the 10th minute, Yerzhan Nurpeisov equalized in the 17th, but Gezik soon completed his brace after an assist from Gleb Makridov.

For Makridov, however, the game ended on a disappointing note — in the 77th minute he received his fourth yellow card of the season, meaning he will miss the final round.

Gleb now shares the top scorer lead with Daulet Orynbasar — both have 19 goals. Unlike Makridov, the 16-year-old Kairat striker still has a chance to improve his tally.

Kairat crushes Aktobe

Before Matchweek 21, Orynbasar was two goals behind Makridov, but he caught up in the game against Aktobe — the yellow-blacks won 4–0, with Daulet scoring twice. Gani Alimbek and Alan Arakelyants also found the net, both assisted by Alamgir Smakov.

Caspiy on the rise

The round turned out perfectly for the team from Aktau. With Kaisar and Tobol both losing, Caspiy managed to snatch a late victory over Atyrau. Nurasyl Zhumabekov scored the winning goal in stoppage time, assisted by his brother Erasyl.

As a result, Caspiy jumped three places in the standings — from last to ninth. Tobol now sits bottom, and in the final round the Kostanay side will face 11th-placed Kaisar.

Heavy defeat in Taraz

Kaisar suffered a heavy away loss to Taraz — the hosts won 4–0. The goals were scored by Daniyar Lesbek, Azizjon Berdiev, and Temirlan Blushinov, who netted a brace. The visitors finished the last third of the match with ten men after Yernar Parda received two yellow cards in ten minutes.

Taraz currently leads the bottom half of the table and, in theory, can still enter the top half by overtaking Irtysh — but to do so they will need Pavlodar to slip up and to beat Kairat themselves.