İmişli FK 2-3 Neftçi Baku: Bakı giants edge five-goal thriller with late winner

Neftçi Baku left the İmişli City Stadium with all three points on Friday night, but only after surviving a genuine scare from the Azerbaijan Premier League's most stubborn underdogs. The visitors ran out 3-2 winners in a match that swung one way and then the other, with the decisive goal arriving inside the final ten minutes to break İmişli hearts and extend Neftçi's strong start to the 2026-27 campaign.

Played under the lights at 20:30 local time on 11 September 2026, the contest delivered everything the neutral could have asked for: an early goal, two equalisers, a red-hot home crowd and a finish that kept the away supporters on their feet until the last whistle.

Match overview

On paper this looked like a routine assignment for one of Azerbaijani football's traditional powers against a club still establishing itself in the top flight. On the pitch, it was anything but routine. Neftçi controlled the ball for long spells but were repeatedly punished for lapses at the back, while İmişli defended deep, pressed in bursts and looked genuinely dangerous every time they broke forward.

Key moments

• 12' – Neftçi take the lead. A patient build-up down the right ended with a low cross into the corridor of uncertainty, and the visitors' striker converted from close range to silence the home terrace briefly.
• 27' – İmişli hit back. The equaliser came from exactly the kind of move that has made this side difficult to beat at home: a quick turnover in midfield, a direct pass into the channel and a composed finish across the goalkeeper.
• 45+2' – Neftçi restore the advantage. Just as the half looked set to end level, a set-piece delivery from the left was met with a powerful header to make it 2-1 at the interval.
• 61' – İmişli level again. The hosts refused to fold. A driving run from midfield drew two defenders, the ball was worked wide and a first-time strike from the edge of the box brought the stadium to life at 2-2.
• 84' – The winner. Neftçi's pressure finally told. A substitute's shot was blocked, the rebound fell kindly and the follow-up was drilled into the bottom corner to settle a breathless contest.

Tactical story

Neftçi set up in a possession-oriented shape and looked to overload the flanks, pushing their full-backs high and asking the wide forwards to attack the back post. It worked in patches, particularly in the opening half hour, but it also left space behind for İmişli's counter-attacks. The hosts defended with a compact mid-block, conceded territory willingly and looked to spring forward through two or three quick passes.

The game turned on substitutions. Neftçi's bench added fresh legs in the final twenty minutes and the tempo of their pressing rose noticeably, forcing turnovers higher up the pitch. İmişli, who had run themselves into the ground to get back to 2-2, could not quite keep the same intensity, and the winning goal came from precisely that imbalance.

Standout players

For the winners, the central midfield partnership was the difference between control and chaos, recycling possession calmly and covering the spaces that opened up when İmişli broke. The striker who opened the scoring was a constant nuisance in the box, while the substitute who created the late winner changed the rhythm of the match within minutes of coming on.

İmişli will take real encouragement from their performance. Their goalkeeper made a string of important saves to keep the scoreline manageable, and the two goalscorers showed the kind of composure in front of goal that suggests this team will pick up points at home this season, even against the league's stronger sides.

What it means for the table

The result keeps Neftçi Baku firmly in the leading group in the Azerbaijan Premier League standings, maintaining momentum in what is expected to be another season-long battle at the top with the country's other established contenders. For a club with Neftçi's trophy history, dropping points in matches like this is the kind of detail that decides titles — which is why the late winner will feel especially valuable.

İmişli FK, meanwhile, stay in the lower half of the table, but they leave this fixture with credit rather than concern. Pushing a side of Neftçi's pedigree to the 84th minute in a five-goal thriller is a marker of progress, and the head-to-head record between these two may look very different when the return fixt