Islom Ismoilov speaks about the emphatic victory over Andijan

In a thrilling Valley derby on matchday 17 of the Uzbekistan Super League, Fergana club Neftchi defeated Andijan 3–0 away from home.

At the press conference after the match, the Fergana side’s head coach Islom Ismoilov gave a detailed assessment of the game, the opponent’s red card, serious injuries in the squad and an 18-year-old talent.

“In the second half, we forced the opponent into making mistakes”

Islom Ismoilov first discussed the tactical plan for the match and the atmosphere in the stadium:

“First of all, I congratulate our fans on this excellent victory. It felt as though we were playing at home in the stadium. The Valley derby is always a difficult one. The legendary coach Lobanovskyi had a great saying: the result remains, the game is forgotten.

In the first half, we gave Andijan a little initiative on the pitch; this was part of our pre-planned strategy. In the second half, we raised the tempo, began to show our own game and forced the opponent into making mistakes. Our opponents, Andijan, are also a very well-organised team, and their future is bright.”

“By the rules, it was 100 percent a red card”

When asked whether the dismissal of the home side’s player Usmonali Ismonaliyev in the 51st minute had decided the outcome of the match, the coach replied:

“This is football. Even when playing against 11 men, we would still have been able to score our own goals because we had started the second half very offensively. I was close to the incident involving that foul. The opponent may not have deliberately played recklessly, but the rules are the same for everyone. By the rules, it was 100 percent a red card”.

Injury absences and a “new Abduqodir Husanov”

The Fergana coach did not hide the fact that injuries to key players had caused major squad problems:

“The number of injuries has increased. Yovan Jokic, Abror Ismoilov and Anvar G‘ofurov had already been ruled out, and Ratino was also injured today. Ikrom Aliboev received his fourth yellow card and will now miss the match against Bukhara.

Nevertheless, it is encouraging to see the reliable performance of our 18-year-old defender Nurmuhammad Abdug‘aniyev . As coaches, we are taking a risk, but he is fully repaying the trust placed in him. If he continues to work hard, he too can develop into a high-level defender of Abduqodir Husanov’s calibre.”

Concerns ahead of the AFC Champions League Elite

Ismoilov responded to journalists’ concerned question about how the team would compete in the AFC Champions League Elite with so many absences:

“We will discuss this further with the coaching staff. It is difficult to say anything at the moment. Since the summer break, every match has been extremely difficult. In some games we lose points, in others we lose key players. I hope that all our players will fully recover and return to the squad before the AFC Elite competition.”.

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