# 2012–13 Azerbaijan Premier League

The 2012–13 Azerbaijan Premier League was the twenty first season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 4 August 2012 and finished on 20 May 2013. Neftchi Baku were the defending champions, having won the previous season.

## Teams

A total of 12 teams contested the league, including all 12 sides from the 2011–12 season, as no teams were promoted from the 2011–12 Azerbaijan First Division.
On 10 April 2012, FK Qaradağ sealed promotion to the league after winning the first division. However, due to a decision by AFFA about licensing, no clubs were promoted which meant all clubs from the previous season remained in the league.

### Stadia and locations

    Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| AZAL | Baku | AZAL Stadium | 3,000 |
| Baku | Baku | FC Baku's Training Base | 2,000 |
| Gabala | Gabala | Gabala City Stadium | 4,000 |
| Inter | Baku | Shafa Stadium | 8,000 |
| Kəpəz | Ganja | Ganja City Stadium | 25,000 |
| Khazar | Lankaran | Lankaran City Stadium | 15,000 |
| Neftchi | Baku | Bakcell Arena | 11,000 |
| Qarabağ | Baku | Tofig Bahramov Stadium | 31,200 |
| Ravan Baku | Baku | Bayil Stadium | 5,000 |
| Simurq | Zaqatala | Zaqatala City Stadium | 3,500 |
| Sumgayit | Sumqayit | Mehdi Huseynzade Stadium | 16,000 |
| Turan | Tovuz | Tovuz City Stadium | 6,800 |

### Personnel and sponsoring

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 | Vagif Sadygov | Jahangir Hasanzade | Umbro | Silk Way |
| Baku | Božidar Bandović | Elvin Mammadov | Macron | |
| Gabala | Luis Aragón (caretaker) | Vurğun Hüseynov | Erreà | Hyundai |
| Inter Baku | Kakhaber Tskhadadze | Vladimir Levin | Umbro | IBA |
| Kəpəz | Mahmud Gurbanov | Khayal Zeynalov | Adidas | Nakhchivan Car Factory |
| Khazar | John Toshack | Rahid Amirguliyev | Puma | Palmali |
| Neftchi Baku | Boyukagha Hajiyev | Rashad Sadigov | Adidas | SOCAR |
| Qarabağ | Gurban Gurbanov | Rashad Sadygov | Adidas | Azersun |
| Ravan Baku | Ramil Aliyev | Tural Akhundov | Legea | NBC Bank |
| Simurq | Giorgi Chikhradze | Rasim Ramaldanov | Umbro | |
| Sumgayit | Bernhard Raab | Samir Abbasov | Umbro | Azerkimya |
| Turan | Afghan Talybov | Hafiz Aliyev | Umbro | Bank of Azerbaijan |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Ravan Baku | Bahman Hasanov | Sacked | 8 June 2012 | Pre-season | Cevat Güler | 12 July 2011 |
| Baku | Novruz Azimov | Sacked | 19 July 2012 | Pre-season | Božidar Bandović | 19 July 2012 |
| Kəpəz | Fuad Ismayilov | Resigned | 19 August 2012 | 12th | Mahmud Gurbanov | 19 August 2012 |
| Ravan Baku | Cevat Güler | Sacked | 25 August 2012 | 8th | Bahman Hasanov | 25 August 2012 |
| Ravan Baku | Bahman Hasanov | End of tenure as caretaker | 24 September 2012 | 11th | Kemal Alispahić | 24 September 2012 |
| Gabala | Fatih Kavlak | Sacked | 24 September 2012 | 5th | Ramiz Mammadov | 24 September 2012 |
| Turan | Asgar Abdullayev | Resigned | 12 October 2012 | 10th | Afghan Talybov | 12 October 2012 |
| Khazar | Yunis Huseynov | Resigned | 31 October 2012 | 7th | Erik Roqueta Capilla (caretaker) | 1 November 2012 |
| Khazar | Erik Roqueta Capilla | End of tenure as caretaker | 14 November 2012 | 4th | Carles Martorell Baqués | 14 November 2012 |
| Ravan Baku | Kemal Alispahić | Sacked | 21 December 2012 | 11th | Ramil Aliyev | 21 December 2012 |
| Khazar | Carles Martorell Baqués | Resigned | 26 February 2013 | 7th | John Toshack | 8 March 2013 |
| Gabala | Ramiz Mammadov | Sacked | 2 April 2013 | 6th | Luis Aragón (caretaker) | 2 April 2013 |

## First round
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Neftçi Baku | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 47 | 24 | +23 | 44 | Qualification for championship group |
| 2 | Inter Baku | 22 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 24 | 12 | +12 | 41 | Qualification for championship group |
| 3 | Qarabağ | 22 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 30 | 19 | +11 | 39 | Qualification for championship group |
| 4 | Simurq | 22 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 25 | 15 | +10 | 36 | Qualification for championship group |
| 5 | Gabala | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 26 | 27 | −1 | 32 | Qualification for championship group |
| 6 | Baku | 22 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 24 | 15 | +9 | 30 | Qualification for championship group |
| 7 | AZAL | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 32 | 25 | +7 | 29 | Qualification for relegation group |
| 8 | Khazar Lankaran | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 32 | 27 | +5 | 28 | Qualification for relegation group |
| 9 | Turan | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 24 | 35 | −11 | 23 | Qualification for relegation group |
| 10 | Sumgayit | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 20 | 39 | −19 | 22 | Qualification for relegation group |
| 11 | Ravan Baku | 22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 23 | 36 | −13 | 22 | Qualification for relegation group |
| 12 | Kapaz | 22 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 45 | −33 | 10 | Qualification for relegation group |

### Results

| Home \ Away | AZL | BAK | KAP | INT | KHA | SIM | NEF | QAR | GAB | RAV | SUM | TUR |
| AZAL | | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 6–2 | 6–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Baku | 2–0 | | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Kapaz | 0–2 | 0–0 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Inter Baku | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Khazar Lankaran | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–3 | | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 4–2 |
| Simurq | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| Neftçi Baku | 4–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Qarabağ | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Gabala | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 1–3 | 4–1 | 0–1 |
| Ravan Baku | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–3 | | 2–3 | 2–0 |
| Sumgayit | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–6 | 0–1 | 0–1 | | 0–1 |
| Turan | 1–0 | 0–4 | 5–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | |

## Second round
### Championship group

The top six teams of the first phase participate in this group, which will decide which team will win the championship. Additionally, teams in this group compete for one 2013–14 Champions League and two Europa League spots.
The winners will qualify for the Champions League Second qualifying round, with the runners-up and third place team earning a spot in the Europa League first qualifying round.

#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Neftçi Baku (C) | 32 | 19 | 5 | 8 | 59 | 32 | +27 | 62 | Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Qarabağ | 32 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 43 | 26 | +17 | 59 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Inter Baku | 32 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 38 | 22 | +16 | 57 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Simurq | 32 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 48 | |
| 5 | Baku | 32 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 33 | 27 | +6 | 41 | |
| 6 | Gabala | 32 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 32 | 40 | −8 | 38 | |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | BAK | GAB | INT | NEF | QAR | SIM |
| Baku | | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Gabala | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Inter Baku | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 5–0 |
| Neftçi Baku | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Qarabağ | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | | 0–0 |
| Simurq | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | |

### Relegation group

The bottom six teams of the first phase will determine the teams to be relegated to the 2013–14 Azerbaijan First Division. The two teams who finish in 11th and 12th position will be relegated to the 2013–14 Azerbaijan First Division.

#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 7 | AZAL | 32 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 57 | 32 | +25 | 57 | |
| 8 | Khazar Lankaran | 32 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 40 | 37 | +3 | 40 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 9 | Ravan Baku | 32 | 12 | 4 | 16 | 46 | 53 | −7 | 40 | |
| 10 | Sumgayit | 32 | 9 | 8 | 15 | 31 | 49 | −18 | 35 | |
| 11 | Turan (R) | 32 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 34 | 59 | −25 | 30 | Relegation to Azerbaijan First Division |
| 12 | Kapaz (R) | 32 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 22 | 64 | −42 | 19 | Relegation to Azerbaijan First Division |
* ↑ Khazar Lankaran qualified for the first qualifying round of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League as winner of the 2012–13 Azerbaijan Cup.

#### Results

| Home \ Away | AZL | KAP | KHA | RAV | SUM | TUR |
| AZAL | | 4–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Kapaz | 1–3 | | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Khazar Lankaran | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Ravan Baku | 3–5 | 3–0 | 1–0 | | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Sumgayit | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | | 4–0 |
| Turan | 0–2 | 3–5 | 2–2 | 2–6 | 2–1 | |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of 14 May 2013
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Nicolás Canales | Neftchi Baku | 26 |
| 2 | Nildo | AZAL | 21 |
| 3 | Juan Varea | Ravan Baku | 14 |
| 4 | Richard Almeida | Qarabağ | 13 |
| 5 | Salif Ballo | Turan | 12 |
| 6 | Pardis Fardjad-Azad | Sumgayit | 9 |
| 7 | Yuriy Fomenko | Kəpəz / Inter Baku | 8 |
| 7 | Bachana Tskhadadze | Inter Baku | 8 |
| 7 | Julius Wobay | Neftchi Baku | 8 |
| 10 | Zouhir Benouahi | AZAL | 7 |
| 11 | Mario Božić | Simurq | 6 |
| 11 | Flavinho | Neftchi Baku | 6 |
| 11 | Marius Pena | Baku | 6 |
| 11 | Mindaugas Kalonas | Ravan Baku | 6 |
| 11 | Dimitris Sialmas | Khazar | 6 |
| 11 | Victor Mendy | Gabala | 6 |
Source: Azerbaijan Premier League

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Nildo$^4$ | AZAL | Qarabağ | 6–2 | 16 September 2012 |
| Nicolás Canales$^4$ | Neftchi Baku | Sumgayit | 8–1 | 17 November 2012 |
| Salif Ballo | Turan | Kəpəz | 5–1 | 2 December 2012 |
| Pardis Fardjad-Azad$^4$ | Sumgayit | Turan | 4–0 | 11 March 2013 |
| Juan Varea | Ravan Baku | Turan | 6–2 | 30 March 2013 |
* $^4$ Player scored 4 goals

### Scoring

* First goal of the season: Irakli Beraia for Kəpəz against Turan Tovuz (4 August 2012)
* Fastest goal of the season: 1st minute, Yannick Kamanan for Gabala against Khazar Lankaran (22 February 2013)
* Latest goal of the season: 94 minutes and 33 seconds, Slavčo Georgievski for Inter Baku against Turan Tovuz (25 August 2012)
* Largest winning margin: 7 goals
** Neftchi Baku 8–1 Sumgayit (17 November 2012)
* Highest scoring game: 9 goals
** Neftchi Baku 8–1 Sumgayit (17 November 2012)
* Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 8 goals
** Neftchi Baku 8–1 Sumgayit (17 November 2012)
* Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 3 goals
** Turan Tovuz 3–5 Kəpəz (13 May 2013)
** Ravan Baku 3–5 AZAL (14 May 2013)

### Clean sheets

* Most clean sheets: 16
** Inter Baku
** Qarabağ
* Fewest clean sheets: 5
** Kəpəz
** Turan Tovuz

### Discipline

* Most yellow cards (club): 96
** Kəpəz
* Most yellow cards (player): 14
** Samuel Barlay (Ravan Baku)
* Most red cards (club): 8
** Khazar Lankaran
** Simurq
* Most red cards (player): 3
** Aleksandr Chertoganov (Gabala)