Following the results of the 12th round of the Turkmenistan Premier League football championship, ‘Arkadag’ strengthened its lead, increasing its gap from its closest rival, ‘Ahal’, to five points. This was reported by the news agency ‘Turkmenistan: Golden age’.

The reigning two-time national champions confidently defeated ‘Merv’ 2-0 away from home. Goals from Didar Durdyev in the 6th minute and Altymurat Annadurdyev in the 78th minute secured the victory for the team. After this match, both strikers topped the list of the tournament's top scorers with seven goals each.

‘Ahal’, meanwhile, failed to hold on to their lead in their home match against Turkmenbashi's ‘Shagadam’. Leading 1-0 after a goal by Gurbanmuhamet Esenov in the 39th minute, the hosts conceded an equaliser in the 51st minute, scored by Ihlas Magtymov. The final score was 1-1.

At the end of the 12th round, ‘Arkadag’ had 30 points from 10 matches, while ‘Ahal’ had 25 points from 12 matches. ‘Altyn Asyr’ and ‘Shagadam’ shared third place with 22 points, having played 11 and 13 matches respectively.

The final matches of the round will see ‘Kopetdag’ face ‘Altyn Asyr’ and ‘Nebitchi’ take on Ashgabat.