The victory of FC Astana with a big score over such a strong opponent as "FC Zhetysu in the 11th Round of the Kazakhstan Championship in the Premier League once again reminded the entire domestic football community who is the strongest team in the country of the last six seasons. Despite all the problems that have befallen it this season, the capital team is getting out of a very difficult situation with honour, clearly demonstrating that someone gave up on them too early.

A correspondent of the Republican Internet portal Sports.kz decided to discuss the past match and speculate about the near future of FC Astana with the player of the National Team of Kazakhstan Abzal Beisebekov, who scored one of the goals against the Taldykorgan team, who was taking the team out of Nur-Sultan with the captain’s armband on his arm.

- Abzal, a big victory over FC Zhetysu – is the opponent weak or your team is finally starting to look powerful?

- I think that this is how the circumstances developed. Despite the score, I cannot say that it was an easy match. The players of Zhetysu worked very closely in defense and tried to go forward whenever possible. But we scored two goals after corner kicks, which made it easier. It was a very important victory for us, especially psychologically.

- The match against the Taldykorgan team shows that scoring goals, nevertheless, is still difficult for FC Astana. Why do you think it is?

- FC Astana is the leader of the Kazakhstan Championship of recent years, and everyone always acts against us with special motivation, many teams play defensively, practically leaving no free spaces. That is why goals are hard for us – but we are working on this as well during training sessions.

- What do you think, can we now say that your team has finally gained traction after the August restart?

- Well, if we take the results of the last two matches, they turned out well for us. But we shouldn’t relax – we need to go from match to match, try to take our points.

- Is it true that FC Astana has got away from the European Competitions shock and is ready to achieve the main goal – the winning of the seventh championship in a row?

- The defeat from FC Buducnost turned out to be very offensive, so I think everyone will remember it for a long time. But, nevertheless, we were not freed from the goal of winning the Championship, and we will try to do everything possible in our power to take first place.

- After exactly half of the tournament distance FC Kairat is in the lead, having 4 points more than you have. Is it realistic to reduce this handicap in the remaining 10 matches, what do you think?

- Of course, it is real, especially since we have two face-to-face matches with Kairat, in which, if not everything, then a lot will be decided!

- The next match is against FC Caspiy. Will it be difficult, do you think?

- Now there are no easy matches in the Kazakhstan Championship, each club can take points. We understand this and will try to approach the match concentrated, and if we show our football, we will be able to win.

- On October 4, FC Astana will play against FC Kairat in the postponed match of the 6^th Round. How important is this match in determining the future champion, in your opinion?

- I have already said that a lot will be decided in the matches against FC Kairat. This is a real derby in Kazakhstan! Moreover, after October 4 there will be a pause associated with the matches of the national teams, so both teams will want to take a break in a good mood.

- Regarding this very pause: do you think it can be good or bad for FC Astana now?

- I think that the pause should be beneficial, based on the fact that during this period of time our injured players will be able to recover, and the change in the situation should psychologically relieve the players.

- The end of September is outside the window, and there is still a whole stage of the National Championship in the Premier League ahead. Not you tired of playing on such a busy schedule?

- FC Astana has been playing in such a schedule for the last five years – in every four days, so we are used to such a pace.

The General Partner of FC Astana is JSC Samruk-Kazyna