A match of the 21st round of the Turkmenistan Football Championship between "Ashgabat" and "Kopetdag" took place at the capital's "Nisa" stadium.

This was the third capital derby for these teams. In the first round-robin stage, the opponents failed to score against each other, resulting in a 0:0 draw. In the second round-robin stage, "Ashgabat" achieved an away victory with a score of 2:0.

Before the start of the third round-robin stage, both clubs changed their head coaches. "Ashgabat" is led by former "Kopetdag" coach Tofik Shukurov, while the Turkmenistan Ministry of Internal Affairs team is led by Begench Garaev. This added interest to the duel between the coaches who had recently worked together. The upcoming match was also expected to reveal what surprises the current "Ashgabat" coach had prepared for his former team.

The first half did not bring success to either side. In the 65th minute, the hosts organized a good attack, which resulted in a goal by Yenish Seidiev. The winning score for "Ashgabat" lasted until the 88th minute. However, two minutes before the end of regular time, "Kopetdag" was awarded a penalty, which was converted by Shiri Annaev.

As a result, the match ended in a 1:1 draw, with both teams earning a point. After this game, "Ashgabat" holds 6th place with 17 points, while "Kopetdag" is in 8th place with 14 points.

The 21st round of the Turkmenistan Football Championship will continue with the matches: "Ahal" - "Merv" and "Altyn Asyr" - "Shagadam".