Marked for Mahir Bayramov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Renat Ramazanov out for 36 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market21 Dec 2026
Samir Medvedev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khazar they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Enrico Bruno was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Renat Ramazanov out for 43 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match14 Dec 2026
Khazar refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 38 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Khazar
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Enrico Bruno in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
A bad afternoon for Khazar against Zira
2‑3 to Zira, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Cristian Costin falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Araz Garayev gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market14 Dec 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Renat Ramazanov out for 50 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match2 Dec 2026
The cup run ends for Khazar
3‑5 against Inter, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad7 Dec 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Samuel Lobato pops up at the right end — 7.38
7.38, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Match5 Dec 2026
4 matches without a win for Khazar
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Khazar are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Samir Medvedev did the work nobody counts — 6.67
16 combined actions and 6.67. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Enrico Bruno was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match2 Dec 2026
8 goals as Khazar and Inter go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Khazar and Inter, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad2 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Renat Ramazanov out for 91 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad2 Nov 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Samir Medvedev, 34, rolls back the years — 9.91
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.91 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match31 Oct 2026
Khazar cannot stop winning
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Mehmet Sahin is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.47 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match31 Oct 2026
Khazar get the job done against Inter
A 5‑4 win over Inter, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match31 Oct 2026
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Khazar and Inter in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.28, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 46. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Renat Ramazanov out for 98 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match24 Oct 2026
No mercy from Khazar
Kapaz will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑3, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Khazar were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A brace, and Mahir Bayramov takes the afternoon — 8.46
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mahir Bayramov provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A brace, and Ruslan Sadygov takes the afternoon — 8.23
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ruslan Sadygov provided it, and the 8.23 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Shahriyar Sheydaev did not need any: 8.21, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market26 Oct 2026
Samir Medvedev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khazar they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match24 Oct 2026
Nobody wants to play Khazar right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
14 goals and a season average of 7.39. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
In brief
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Squad
Tempers go at Khazar
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Match
Mahir Bayramov among the goals in a wild afternoon
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Squad
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Renat Ramazanov out for 121 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Enrico Bruno in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match3 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Khazar do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Ruslan Sadygov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match3 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mahir Bayramov. 1‑0 against Neftchi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
The game went through Mehmet Sahin — 7.04
Marked 7.04 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 8.04 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samir Medvedev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Renat Ramazanov out for 135 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match21 Sep 2026
Khazar refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 13 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Enrico Bruno in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Mehmet Sahin
12 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bahlul Madatov, and the manager let it.
Loan watch21 Sep 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Khazar, and 0 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Match19 Sep 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Sumgayit leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
He was not in the side at half past three and he had settled it before five. Half an hour, and Khazar had a different afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad14 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Orkhan Madatov out for 78 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The match ball belongs to Mehmet Sahin, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match12 Sep 2026
Khazar cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Mahir Bayramov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match12 Sep 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Khazar and Ravan in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match12 Sep 2026
Khazar get the job done against Ravan
A 4‑2 win over Ravan, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Mehmet Sahin was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.74. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Mehmet Sahin, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Market31 Aug 2026
Khazar say no — this time
The offer from Inter for Araz Garayev was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market31 Aug 2026
Agil Jafarov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Khazar can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Khazar have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Enrico Bruno was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A performance of 9.87 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match29 Aug 2026
It finished 3‑2, and it was Mehmet Sahin’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Khazar.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Araz Mammadov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 47. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match22 Aug 2026
A 2-goal lead gone for Khazar
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Kapaz kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Khazar will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Orkhan Madatov breaks a bone — 100 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Enrico Bruno in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Ruslan Sadygov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Afran Garayev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match15 Aug 2026
No mercy from Khazar
AZAL will want this one forgotten quickly: 8‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Khazar were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Orkhan Madatov breaks a bone — 107 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 Aug 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Mehmet Sahin, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.39, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Vugar Madatov could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.78
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.78, 0 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Mahir Bayramov has come up in conversations Khazar were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Enrico Bruno was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.