2016–17 Azerbaijan Premier League

The 2016–17 Azerbaijan Premier League was the 25th season of the Azerbaijan Premier League, the Azerbaijani professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. Qarabağ were the defending champions, having won the previous season. The season began on 6 August 2016 and concluded on 29 April 2017.

Azerbaijan Premier League

Season	2016–17
Dates	6 August 2016 – 29 April 2017
Champions	Qarabağ (5th title)
Relegated	AZAL
Champions League	Qarabağ
Europa League	Gabala Inter Baku Zira
Matches played	112
Goals scored	251 (2.24 per match)
Biggest home win	Qarabağ 6–0 AZAL (9 September 2016)
Biggest away win	Neftçi Baku 0–8 Gabala (10 September 2016)
Highest scoring	Neftçi Baku 0–8 Gabala (10 September 2016)
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

On 16 April 2017, Qarabağ defeated Inter Baku 3–0 to successfully defend their league title - their fourth league title in a row and fifth overall.^[1]

Teams

On 13 June 2016 the Professional Football League of Azerbaijan announced that both Khazar Lankaran, and Ravan, had been refused licenses to play in the 2016–17 Premier League and that no First Division teams would replace them.^[2]

On 25 April 2017, Zira were awarded a 3–0 victory over Neftçi Baku after Neftçi Baku fielded 7 foreign players in their 2–2 draw on 23 April 2017.^[3]

Inter Baku
Neftçi Baku

Sumgayit

Kapaz

Gabala

Qarabağ

Zira

AZAL

Locations of the 2016–17 Azerbaijan Premier League teams.
Team in italics is from a zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and is playing its home games in Baku.

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team	Location	Venue	Capacity[4]
AZAL	Baku	AZAL Stadium	5,000
Gabala	Qabala	Gabala City Stadium	2,000
Inter Baku	Baku	Inter Arena	8,125
Neftçi Baku	Baku	Bakcell Arena	11,000
Qarabağ	Baku	Azersun Arena	5,800
Sumgayit	Sumqayit	Kapital Bank Arena	1,500
Zira	Baku	Zira Olympic Sport Complex Stadium	1,500
Kapaz	Ganja	Ganja City Stadium	27,000

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Team captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
AZAL	Tarlan Ahmadov	Emin Jafarguliyev	Joma	Silk Way
Gabala	Roman Hryhorchuk	Rashad Sadiqov	Joma	QafqaZ Hotels[5]
Inter Baku	Zaur Svanadze	Nizami Hajiyev	Joma	IBA
Neftçi Baku	Elkhan Abdullayev	Ruslan Abışov	Kappa	Asan Xidmət
Qarabağ	Gurban Gurbanov	Rashad Sadygov	Adidas	Azersun[6]
Sumgayit	Samir Abbasov	Vurğun Hüseynov	Joma	Azerkimya[7]
Zira	Aykhan Abbasov	Elvin Mammadov	Umbro	Santral
Kapaz	Shahin Diniyev	Tural Akhundov	Umbro	Gəncə 4000

Stadiums

Gabala	Inter Baku	Kapaz	Neftçi Baku
Gabala City Stadium	Inter Arena	Ganja City Stadium	Bakcell Arena
Capacity: 2,000	Capacity: 8,125	Capacity: 27,000	Capacity: 11,000
Qarabağ	Səbail	Sumgayit	Zira
Azersun Arena	Bayil Arena	Kapital Bank Arena	Zira Olympic Sport Complex Stadium
Capacity: 5,800	Capacity: 5,000	Capacity: 1,500	Capacity: 1,500

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Neftçi Baku	Vali Gasimov	Sacked	14 September 2016[8]	7th	Elkhan Abdullayev	15 September 2016[9]
Zira	Adil Shukurov	Mutual termination	27 December 2016[10]	6th	Aykhan Abbasov	27 December 2016[10]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Qarabağ (C)	28	19	5	4	46	14	+32	62	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round[a]
2	Gabala	28	14	10	4	48	21	+27	52	Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round
3	Inter Baku	28	11	10	7	39	33	+6	43	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
4	Zira	28	10	9	9	29	26	+3	39
5	Kapaz	28	9	9	10	24	27	−3	36
6	Sumgayit	28	9	8	11	28	35	−7	35
7	Neftçi Baku	28	9	2	17	24	45	−21	29
8	AZAL (R)	28	1	7	20	13	50	−37	10	Relegation to the Azerbaijan First Division

Source: PFL (in Azerbaijani), UEFA, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored (only if two teams); 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored.^[11]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Qarabağ qualified for the Europa League second qualifying round by winning the 2016–17 Azerbaijan Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.

Results

Games 1–14 Home \ Away AZL INT NEF QAR GAB SUM ZIR KAP AZAL — 1–3 0–2 0–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 0–1 Inter Baku 3–0 — 2–1 2–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 2–2 Neftçi Baku 0–1 2–1 — 0–2 0–8 1–2 0–1 2–0 Qarabağ 6–0 0–0 3–0 — 2–1 3–0 2–0 1–0 Gabala 3–0 0–0 4–1 2–0 — 2–0 1–0 2–0 Sumgayit 1–1 1–2 2–0 0–2 2–2 — 1–0 1–1 Zira 3–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 0–2 0–1 — 2–0 Kapaz 0–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 — Source: Professional Football League (in Azerbaijani) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Games 15–28 Home \ Away AZL INT NEF QAR GAB SUM ZIR KAP AZAL — 0–1 0–1 1–2 1–1 1–2 0–3 1–2 Inter Baku 2–1 — 1–3 0–3 0–2 1–0 1–1 4–1 Neftçi Baku 4–0 2–1 — 1–2 1–0 1–0 1–2 0–0 Qarabağ 1–0 0–1 1–1 — 0–0 2–1 2–0 2–1 Gabala 2–0 4–3 1–0 2–0 — 1–1 1–1 2–1 Sumgayit 1–0 2–2 2–0 0–4 2–1 — 1–1 3–1 Zira 2–1 1–1 3–0[a] 0–0 2–2 1–0 — 1–0 Kapaz 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 — Source: Professional Football League (in Azerbaijani) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

1. Match awarded 3–0 to Zira due to Neftçi Baku breaching league rules; original result was 2–2 draw.^[12]

Season statistics

Top scorers

^[13]

As of match played 29 April 2017

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Filip Ozobić	Gabala	11
	Rauf Aliyev	Inter Baku
3	Dino Ndlovu	Qarabağ	10
4	Mirabdulla Abbasov	Sumqayıt	8
5	Bagaliy Dabo	Gabala	7
	Nizami Hajiyev	Inter Baku
7	Julien Ebah	Kapaz	6
	Amil Yunanov	Sumqayıt
	Sergei Zenjov	Gabala
10	Ruslan Abışov	Inter Baku	5
	Tural Akhundov	Kapaz

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref.
Bagaliy Dabo	Gabala	Neftchi Baku	8–0	10 September 2016	[14]

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Elvin Badalov for Neftçi Baku against AZAL (6 August 2016)
• Fastest goal of the season: 2nd minute,
  • Reynaldo for Qarabağ against AZAL (9 September 2016)^[15]

References

1. "Ardıcıl dördüncü dəfə!!!" [The fourth time in a row!!!]. qarabagh.com (in Azerbaijani). 16 April 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-04-17. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
2. Официально: Премьер-лига сократилась до 8 клубов. azerifootball.com (in Russian). Azeri Football. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
3. Официально: Нефтчи засчитано техническое поражение в матче с Зиря. azerifootball.com (in Russian). Azerifootball. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
4. Azərbaycan Peşəkar Liqası (in Azerbaijani)
5. "Deal with new sponsor – QafqaZ Hotels and Resorts". gabalafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved 15 August 2015.
6. "Qarabağın sponsoru". qarabagh.com (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 2014-05-16. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
7. "Sumqayıtın sponsoru". sumqayitpfc.az (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
8. "Neftçi PFK-nın rəsmi məlumatı". neftchipfk.com (in Azerbaijani). Neftchi Baku. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
9. "Neftçi PFK: yeni təyinatlar haqqında". neftchipfk.com (in Azerbaijani). Neftchi Baku. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
10. "Zirə də baş məşqçi dəyişikliyi". fczire.az (in Azerbaijani). Zira FK. 27 December 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
11. "Premyer Liqa 2016/2017 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
12. "İntizam Komitəsinin qərarları" [The decisions of the Disciplinary Committee]. AFFA (in Azerbaijani). 25 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
13. ""Premier League Stats 2015/16"". pfl.az/. Peşəkar Futbol Liqası. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
14. "Neftchi Baku 0–8 Gabala". soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
15. "Qarabağ 6–0 AZAL". soccerway.com/. Soccerway. Retrieved 11 September 2016.

External links

• Official website (in Azerbaijani, English, and Russian)