# 2018 Kazakhstan Premier League

The 2018 Kazakhstan Premier League was the 27th season of the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest football league competition in Kazakhstan. Astana defended their championship, winning the Premier League for a fifth time.

## Teams

FC Okzhetpes and FC Taraz were relegated at the end of the 2016 season, and were replaced by FC Zhetysu and FC Kyzylzhar.

### Team overview

| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| Aktobe | Aktobe | Aktobe Central Stadium | 15,000 |
| Akzhayik | Oral | Petr Atoyan Stadium | 8,320 |
| Astana | Astana | Astana Arena | 30,000 |
| Atyrau | Atyrau | Munaishy Stadium | 8,690 |
| Irtysh | Pavlodar | Pavlodar Central Stadium | 15,000 |
| Kairat | Almaty | Almaty Central Stadium | 25,057 |
| Kaisar | Kyzylorda | Gany Muratbayev Stadium | 7,500 |
| Kyzylzhar | Petropavl | Karasai Stadium | 11,000 |
| Ordabasy | Shymkent | Kazhymukan Munaitpasov Stadium | 20,000 |
| Shakhter | Karaganda | Shakhter Stadium | 20,000 |
| Tobol | Kostanay | Kostanay Central Stadium | 10,500 |
| Zhetysu | Taldykorgan | Zhetysu Stadium | 4,000 |

### Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Aktobe | Vladimir Mukhanov | Marcos Pizzelli | Adidas | — |
| Akzhayik | Artur Avakyants | Miram Sapanov | Adidas | — |
| Astana | Roman Hryhorchuk | Dmitri Shomko | Adidas | Samruk-Kazyna |
| Atyrau | Viktor Kumykov | Marat Khayrullin | Nike | — |
| Irtysh | Dimitar Dimitrov | Nikita Kalmykov | Nike | ENRC |
| Kairat | Carlos Alós | Bauyrzhan Islamkhan | Nike | Halyk Bank |
| Kaisar | Stoycho Mladenov | Maksat Baizhanov | Nike | — |
| Kyzylzhar | Andrey Kucheryavykh | Timur Muldinov | Nike | — |
| Ordabasy | Kakhaber Tskhadadze | Azat Nurgaliev | Nike | Aysu Mineral Water |
| Shakhter | Nikolay Kostov | Evgeniy Tarasov | Nike | BTL Kazakhstan |
| Tobol | Marek Zub | Azat Nurgaliev | Adidas | Polymetal |
| Zhetysu | Dmitriy Ogai | Mantas Kuklys | Adidas | — |

### Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to eight per KPL team. A team can use only five foreign players on the field in each game.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | Player 7 | Player 8 | Player 9 |
| Aktobe | Marcos Pizzelli | Reynaldo | Hrvoje Miličević | Jean-Eudes Maurice | Saša Marjanović | Milan Radin | Aleksandar Simčević | | |
| Akzhayik | Denis Glavina | Artūrs Karašausks | Malick Mané | Andriy Tkachuk | Yevhen Borovyk | Ambrosiy Chachua | Ihor Khudobyak | Serhiy Basov | |
| Astana | Richard Almeida | Ivan Mayewski | Marin Aničić | Pedro Henrique | Marin Tomasov | Rangelo Janga | Junior Kabananga | László Kleinheisler | Antonio Rukavina |
| Atyrau | Joseph Nane | Tomislav Barbarić | Jure Obšivač | Tunde Adeniji | František Kubík | Novica Maksimović | Predrag Sikimić | Rizvan Ablitarov | |
| Irtysh | Gbolahan Salami | Carlos Fonseca | Adrian Avramia | Doru Popadiuc | Miloš Stamenković | Adri | Syarhey Kislyak | | |
| Kairat | Isael | Juan Felipe | Syarhey Palitsevich | Ivo Iličević | Ákos Elek | Márton Eppel | Andrey Arshavin | Sheldon Bateau | Aderinsola Eseola |
| Kaisar | Abdel Lamanje | Ivan Graf | Franck Dja Djedjé | Paul Were | Mathias Coureur | John Kamara | Bratislav Punoševac | Volodymyr Arzhanov | |
| Kyzylzhar | Momodou Ceesay | Shota Grigalashvili | Giorgi Popkhadze | Uroš Delić | Freddy Coronel | Miroslav Lečić | Maksym Drachenko | Oleksandr Stetsenko | |
| Ordabasy | Pablo Fontanello | Mirzad Mehanović | Luka Muženjak | Helton | Nikita Bocharov | Abdoulaye Diakate | Nemanja Kojić | Kyrylo Kovalchuk | |
| Shakhter | Gegham Harutyunyan | Alyaksandr Valadzko | Mateo Mužek | Lukas Droppa | Egon Vuch | Sergei Mošnikov | Damir Kojašević | Yevhen Tkachuk | |
| Tobol | Juan Lescano | Fernander Kassaï | Jaba Kankava | Nika Kvekveskiri | Artūras Žulpa | Ionuț Larie | Dmytro Nepohodov | | |
| Zhetysu | Kamo Hovhannisyan | Edgar Malakyan | Andrey Lebedzew | Ivan Sadownichy | Lasha Kasradze | David Mawutor | Mantas Kuklys | Ruslan Stepanyuk | Server Djeparov |
In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Irtysh Pavlodar | Vyacheslav Hroznyi | End of contract | 16 November 2017 | Pre-season | Gerard Nus | 21 December 2017 |
| Tobol | Robert Yevdokimov | End of contract | 1 December 2017 | Pre-season | Vladimir Nikitenko | 25 December 2017 |
| Akzhayik | Vakhid Masudov | | | Pre-season | Volodymyr Mazyar | 17 December 2017 |
| Atyrau | Kuanysh Kabdulov (caretaker) | End of contract | | Pre-season | Vakhid Masudov | 8 January 2018 |
| Ordabasy | Aleksei Petrushin | End of contract | | Pre-season | Georgi Dermendzhiev | 11 January 2018 |
| Shakhter Karagandy | Saulius Širmelis | End of contract | 31 December 2017 | Pre-season | Uladzimir Zhuravel | 9 January 2018 |
| Atyrau | Vakhid Masudov | Resigned | 9 April 2018 | 12th | Adrian Sosnovschi | 11 April 2018 |
| Irtysh Pavlodar | Gerard Nus | Sacked | 28 April 2018 | 8th | Dmitry Kuznetsov (Caretaker) | 28 April 2018 |
| Akzhayik | Volodymyr Mazyar | | 15 May 2018 | 7th | | |
| Irtysh Pavlodar | Dmitry Kuznetsov (Caretaker) | End of Contract | 13 June 2018 | 5th | Oirat Saduov | 13 June 2018 |
| Shakhter Karagandy | Uladzimir Zhuravel | Mutual Termination | 3 July 2018 | 10th | Andrei Finonchenko (Caretaker) | 3 July 2018 |
| Atyrau | Adrian Sosnovschi | Resigned | 1 July 2018 | 12th | Viktor Kumykov | 4 July 2018 |
| Irtysh Pavlodar | Oirat Saduov | Sacked | 10 July 2018 | 9th | Dimitar Dimitrov | 10 July 2018 |
| Tobol | Vladimir Nikitenko | Resignation | 1 August 2018 | 3rd | Marek Zub | 6 August 2018 |
| Kairat | Carlos Alós | Mutual Consent | 15 October 2018 | 2nd | Andrei Karpovich (Caretaker) | 15 October 2018 |

## Regular season
### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Astana (C) | 33 | 24 | 5 | 4 | 66 | 22 | +44 | 77 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Kairat | 33 | 19 | 5 | 9 | 60 | 33 | +27 | 62 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Tobol | 33 | 15 | 8 | 10 | 36 | 30 | +6 | 53 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Ordabasy | 33 | 13 | 7 | 13 | 38 | 44 | −6 | 46 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Kaisar | 33 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 35 | 31 | +4 | 45 | |
| 6 | Zhetysu | 33 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 36 | 40 | −4 | 43 | |
| 7 | Aktobe | 33 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 51 | 47 | +4 | 42 | |
| 8 | Shakhter Karagandy | 33 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 29 | 36 | −7 | 36 | |
| 9 | Atyrau | 33 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 34 | 47 | −13 | 36 | |
| 10 | Irtysh Pavlodar (O) | 33 | 10 | 5 | 18 | 28 | 45 | −17 | 35 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 11 | Kyzylzhar (R) | 33 | 10 | 5 | 18 | 27 | 48 | −21 | 35 | Relegation to the Kazakhstan First Division |
| 12 | Akzhayik (R) | 33 | 7 | 9 | 17 | 31 | 48 | −17 | 30 | Relegation to the Kazakhstan First Division |
* ↑ Since the winners of 2018 Kazakhstan Cup, Kairat, qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the Cup winner (Europa League first qualifying round) was passed to the next best-placed team (the fourth-placed team).
* ↑ Aktobe had six points deducted on 27 April 2018 as a punishment for unpaid debts to former player Danilo Neco.

### Results
#### Games 1–22

| Home \ Away | AKT | AKZ | AST | ATY | IRT | KRT | KSR | KYZ | ORD | SHA | TOB | ZHE |
| Aktobe | — | 5–3 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Akzhayik | 1–1 | — | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 |
| Astana | 3–1 | 3–0 | — | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 5–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| Atyrau | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Irtysh Pavlodar | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–6 | 2–1 | — | 1–2 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Kairat | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | — | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Kaisar | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Kyzylzhar | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | — | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Ordabasy | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Shakhter Karagandy | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Tobol | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 |
| Zhetysu | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | — |

#### Games 23–33

| Home \ Away | AKT | AKZ | AST | ATY | IRT | KRT | KSR | KYZ | ORD | SHA | TOB | ZHE |
| Aktobe | — | | 1–2 | | 2–0 | | 0–2 | 1–0 | | | 3–1 | 2–3 |
| Akzhayik | 0–0 | — | 1–2 | | | | 0–4 | 0–0 | | | 0–1 | |
| Astana | | | — | | 4–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | | | 3–0 |
| Atyrau | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | — | | | | 3–2 | | | 2–1 | |
| Irtysh Pavlodar | | 2–0 | | 1–0 | — | | 0–1 | 0–1 | | 1–1 | | |
| Kairat | 6–1 | 0–1 | | 4–2 | 0–1 | — | | | | 0–0 | 0–0 | |
| Kaisar | | | | 2–2 | | 1–2 | — | | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 1–0 |
| Kyzylzhar | | | | | | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–2 | 2–1 | | 1–1 |
| Ordabasy | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | | | — | 1–1 | | |
| Shakhter Karagandy | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | | | | | | — | 2–1 | |
| Tobol | | | 1–0 | | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | | — | 2–2 |
| Zhetysu | | 3–1 | | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | | | 1–1 | 1–1 | | — |

## Statistics
### Scoring

* First goal of the season: Pavel Shabalin for Irtysh Pavlodar against Atyrau (11 March 2018)

### Top scorers

    As of matches played 11 November 2018
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Marcos Pizzelli | Aktobe | 18 |
| 2 | Aderinsola Eseola | Akzhayik/Kairat | 17 |
| 3 | Marin Tomasov | Astana | 14 |
| 4 | Isael | Kairat | 12 |
| 5 | Aleksey Shchotkin | Astana | 10 |
| 5 | Bratislav Punoševac | Kaisar | 10 |
| 7 | Andrey Arshavin | Kairat | 9 |
| 7 | Malick Mané | Akzhayik | 9 |
| 9 | Azat Nurgaliev | Tobol | 8 |
| 9 | Babatunde Temitope Adeniji | Atyrau | 8 |
| 9 | Damir Kojašević | Shakhter Karagandy | 8 |
| 9 | Timur Muldinov | Kyzylzhar | 8 |
| 9 | Roman Murtazayev | Astana | 8 |
| 9 | Patrick Twumasi | Astana | 8 |
| 9 | Marat Khairullin | Atyrau | 8 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Baktiyar Zaynutdinov | Astana | Irtysh Pavlodar | 6–1 | 7 April 2018 |
| Milan Bojović | Zhetysu | Ordabasy | 4–2 | 14 May 2018 |
| Marcos Pizzelli | Aktobe | Tobol | 3–2 | 23 June 2018 |
| Aleksey Shchotkin | Astana | Kyzylzhar | 3–0 | 26 August 2018 |