From our football correspondent
Steady
Match10 Oct 2026
Still nobody has beaten Khazar
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad12 Oct 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
German Fedorov 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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Neftchi to sit and watch. I want to come back to Khazar and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Oct 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 Khazar can pretend not to have heard.
Match3 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Khazar do not lose
8 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
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. German Fedorov 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The young player of the month award goes to a 20-year-old at Khazar who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 32 days on the sidelines for Richard Huseynov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
The one thing Agil Mammadov could not do
Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Shots: 4, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Sep 2026
A 2-goal lead gone for Khazar
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Gabala kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Khazar will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.53, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad28 Sep 2026
There were 6 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Still nobody has beaten Khazar
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Renat Sadygov 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
German Fedorov 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.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
At 20 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ruslan Jafarov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Araz Mammadov
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Khazar lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match21 Sep 2026
Khazar up to position 2
14 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Cavid Guseynov pops up at the right end — 7.86
7.86, 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Samuel Lobato 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 ratings21 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of German Fedorov at his very best
Marked 10.00. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Khazar.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 3‑2, and it was Ruslan Jafarov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Khazar.
Match19 Sep 2026
6 unbeaten for Khazar
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Khazar did not have in the autumn.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. German Fedorov 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.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. German Fedorov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
Araz Mammadov damages knee ligaments — 25 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 25 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
Squad14 Sep 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
German Fedorov 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.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
At 22 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Ravan made Khazar work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.84 on the card, and the Khazar support went home talking about one name.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I watch every Khazar game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Neftchi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
Araz Mammadov damages knee ligaments — 32 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from German Fedorov at 21 — 7.88
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. German Fedorov did not need any: 7.88, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market7 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khazar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Sep 2026
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Kapaz moved on, Rashad Garayev reports back to Khazar, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Samuel Lobato 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. German Fedorov 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 ratings7 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Ruslan Jafarov at his very best
Marked 8.30. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Khazar.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The young player of the month award goes to a 20-year-old at Khazar who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Match5 Sep 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Qarabag leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.10, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market31 Aug 2026
Khazar say no — this time
The offer from Lokomotivi for Mahir Amirguliyev 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 ratings31 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Agil Mammadov at 20 — 7.76
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Agil Mammadov did not need any: 7.76, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market31 Aug 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 Khazar can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Rashad Nazarov pulls a muscle — 16 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Match29 Aug 2026
Khazar get the job done against Inter
A 3‑1 win over Inter, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad31 Aug 2026
German Fedorov 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.
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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Tamkin Khalilzade at his very best
Marked 8.77. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Khazar.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Aug 2026
No mercy from Khazar
Kapaz will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Khazar were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Agil Mammadov, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 10.00
A mark of 10.00 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Agil Mammadov, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Market24 Aug 2026
Khazar say no — this time
The offer from Qarabag for Javid Jafarov 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.
Squad24 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Cavid Garayev for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Khazar will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. German Fedorov 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.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
At 21 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Aug 2026
Inter come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Khazar did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market17 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Javid Jafarov again, and this time the name on the line is Qarabag. Khazar are listening politely and promising nothing.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. 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
Renat Sadygov 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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Graduation day at Khazar
4 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad17 Aug 2026
German Fedorov 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Agil Mammadov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market17 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Namig Amirguliyev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market17 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dimitrij Jafarov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khazar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ruslan Jafarov and Khazar agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Renat Sadygov 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Inter have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Rashad Garayev. The answer from Khazar has not changed — yet.
Squad10 Aug 2026
German Fedorov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 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.
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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. German Fedorov 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Rashad Garayev has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Khazar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ruslan Jafarov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Khazar, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market3 Aug 2026
At 33, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.