What did Islom Ismoilov reveal after «Neftchi» were thrashed in Bukhara?

Matchday 18 of the Uzbekistan Super League began with an unexpected and truly shocking result. Fergana’s «Neftchi», the competition leaders and reigning champions, suffered a heavy 1:4 away defeat to «Bukhoro». Following this painful and serious setback, Fergana head coach Islom Ismoilov made strong statements at the press conference — what was the real reason for the defeat?

“This cannot be an excuse”: The collapse of a team without 5 key players

When asked whether the absence of 5 first-team players had directly affected the result, Islom Ismoilov responded with unexpected firmness. Without making excuses, the coach openly said that the problem lay in individual errors:

"This cannot be an excuse. We have players in the squad who can replace them. In any circumstances, we should not have suffered such a defeat. The third and fourth goals in the second half... All of them were simple and ridiculous mistakes. We are gifting the ball to the opponent, and they are scoring goals," said Islom Ismoilov.

Super League Matchday 18: Facts from the Central Match

«Bukhoro»’s unchanged tactics and the next steps

The Fergana coach noted that the opponent’s style had hardly differed from the first round, but despite this, the defensive line had been unable to control the situation:

"In the first round, «Bukhoro» also played in almost the same style and opened the scoring from a penalty. The same thing happened today. They relied on long passes and counterattacks. Our players are professionals; we will draw conclusions from this painful defeat as quickly as possible and correct our mistakes."

There is no doubt that this unexpected heavy defeat will make the title race in the Super League even more intense.

In your opinion, was «Neftchi»’s heavy defeat a coincidence, or has a crisis begun in the title race?

Leave your thoughts in the comments and share this sensational news with Uzbek football fans!