Marked for Nika Arveladze
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Sep 2026
Saburtalo make it 7 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Saburtalo have 7 straight wins of it.
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A brace, and Nika Arveladze takes the afternoon — 8.43
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nika Arveladze provided it, and the 8.43 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Saburtalo can pretend not to have heard.
Match5 Sep 2026
Sioni made Saburtalo work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Saba Gvelesiani 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.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 8.12 — 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 8.07 — 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match29 Aug 2026
Nobody wants to play Saburtalo right now
6 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.
Market31 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.
Market31 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Saburtalo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khvicha Janelidze 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Saburtalo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2026
Samtredia made Saburtalo work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.02 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match19 Aug 2026
Saburtalo march on in the cup
Kolkheti are out and Saburtalo go through, 6‑3 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match22 Aug 2026
6‑0, and Armando Borghi took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Saburtalo tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Giorgi Kvaratskhelia provided it, and the 9.71 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.64 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Armando Borghi, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. 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
Saburtalo 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Saburtalo say no — this time
The offer from Paralimni for Mamuka Kiteishvili 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.
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Aug 2026
Saburtalo say no — this time
The offer from Ethnikos Achnas for Mamuka Kiteishvili 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Saburtalo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Aug 2026
The name of Levan Kobiashvili has come up in conversations Saburtalo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Khvicha Janelidze, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Saburtalo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Armando Borghi 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Armando Borghi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.20. 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Saburtalo hit back inside 1 minutes
Kolkheti held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Saburtalo answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Match1 Aug 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Kolkheti leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.