From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match31 Oct 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against Kapaz, and it could have been more.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match31 Oct 2026
Still nobody has beaten Zira
The unbeaten run reaches 11. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Up for the corner, and Guima delivers — 7.93
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Guima scored, was marked 7.93, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Transfer targets2 Nov 2026
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
189% of the income goes out in wages at Zira
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
Zira supporters have found a favourite in Eren Aydın
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Eren Aydın 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.26 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout2 Nov 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 Oct 2026
10 unbeaten for Zira
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Zira did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Ruan Renato goes up and wins it — 7.95
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.95 for the rest of it.
Market26 Oct 2026
Only the photograph left for Hacıağa Hacılı
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hacıağa Hacılı will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zira the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom26 Oct 2026
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Cavid Nazarov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Zira have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Match24 Oct 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Ruan Renato’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Zira.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Zira
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ruan Renato was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Davit Volkovi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad26 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 Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Oct 2026
Zira up to position 2
21 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match17 Oct 2026
Still nobody has beaten Zira
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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Eren Aydın runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Ruan Renato 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 Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Zira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Qismət Alıyev 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Shahriyar Jafarov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Zira will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Match17 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Neftchi will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 Oct 2026
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A brace, and Eren Aydın takes the afternoon — 8.91
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Eren Aydın provided it, and the 8.91 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match10 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Zira 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Zira
Ruan Renato 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Renat Amirguliyev has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ruslan Ramazanov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
The big one: Neftchi come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Zira will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Martins Júnior was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.30. 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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Guima at his very best
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Zira.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match3 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Zira do not lose
7 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 Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 254% of everything Zira earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match3 Oct 2026
Three points for Zira, 1‑0 the final word against Gabala in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.34 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Zira
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ruan Renato was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Nobody could get near Eren Aydın
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Henrique Gelain, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Zira
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Sep 2026
Hacıağa Hacılı has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zira they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market28 Sep 2026
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Zira can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Zira
Issa Djibrilla 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Whatever happens, Zira 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Eren Aydın
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Zira
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stéphane Acka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
No hiding place for Ktatau
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ktatau, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Davit Volkovi has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Sep 2026
5‑1, and Davit Volkovi took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Zira tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.49, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match21 Sep 2026
Zira are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 13 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Up for the corner, and Guima delivers — 7.99
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Guima scored, was marked 7.99, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad21 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 Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
6 goals as Zira and Ravan go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Zira and Ravan, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Guima 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 terraces21 Sep 2026
Zira supporters have found a favourite in Eren Aydın
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Eren Aydın 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 8.39 — 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
Upbeat
Market14 Sep 2026
Sumgayit come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Zira did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Zira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guima 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Orkhan Amirguliyev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Agil Dadashov 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Shahriyar Jafarov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aydın Bayramov, and the manager let it.
Match12 Sep 2026
Zira and Qarabag cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Qarabag came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Ravan in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Sep 2026
No mercy from Zira
Inter will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zira were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.14 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Zira close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Match5 Sep 2026
Zira make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Zira have 3 straight wins of it.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Defensores Unidos have kept their man, and Zira go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market7 Sep 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Zira have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Zira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruan Renato 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
A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Zira
Jérémie Gnali 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
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.
Market31 Aug 2026
Hacıağa Hacılı has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zira they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match29 Aug 2026
Three points for Zira, 3‑1 the final word against Kapaz in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Zira asked and Almagro said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Zira
Ruan Renato and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Martins Júnior was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.33. 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.08 — 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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑1, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zira have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Eren Aydın beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Zira asked and Colón said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market24 Aug 2026
Salim Hashimov has left for Inter in a $12.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Match22 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Martins Júnior. 2‑1 against AZAL, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.27, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Zira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruan Renato 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
Crisis
Market17 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zira have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market17 Aug 2026
The paperwork is done: Jérémie Gnali joins from Qarabag in a deal worth $800.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Zira
Issa Djibrilla and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
No deal for Edvin Kuč at that price
Zira offered $98.0K; Neftchi said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The town asked, and Zira paid $800.0K
Jérémie Gnali was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $800.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Namiq Ələsgərov has come up in conversations Zira were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zira people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Zira and Qarabag have settled on $800.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zira
Issa Djibrilla 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Guima 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Araz Guseynov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
One of our own: Tamkin Nadirov joins the Zira first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Tamkin Nadirov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Agil Amirguliyev has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Looking ahead10 Aug 2026
The leaders are next for Zira
Neftchi top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
Looking ahead10 Aug 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Neftchi in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
In brief
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Squad
A wage question at Zira
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The dugout
Ktatau knocks on the manager’s door
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Squad
The training reports on Hacıağa Hacılı are not good
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Issa Djibrilla and Zira agree another 3 years.
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 Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Guima 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Hacıağa Hacılı again, and this time the name on the line is Ravan. Zira are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.