Kairat head coach Rafael Urazbakhtin took responsibility for the heavy defeat to Tobol in the 26th round of the Kazakhstan Premier League. The Almaty side lost at home 1:4 and failed to reclaim first place in the championship. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

After the match, Urazbakhtin admitted his team had an unsuccessful game.

"There is nothing much to comment on. We got a good slap in the face and messed up very badly today," the Kairat coach said at a press conference.

Urazbakhtin said that before the game he had considered changing the starting lineup, but in the end decided not to deviate from the combination that had brought the team results in previous matches.

"I take the defeat entirely upon myself. My gut told me that some changes in the lineup were needed, but I gave in to the stereotype that you don't change a winning lineup. So it is entirely my fault that we lost."

Before the meeting with Tobol, Kairat had beaten Zhenis heavily (3:0) and moved into first place in the KPL. However, on the eve of the Almaty side's match, Ordabasy beat Astana (1:0) and again moved ahead in the title race.

Despite the painful defeat, Urazbakhtin stressed that the team does not intend to give up the fight for the championship.

"What matters is not how you take a blow, but how you keep fighting after it. I think this defeat will make us stronger in any case. I can promise that we will continue the fight and will fight to the end."

According to the coach, after the final whistle he had already discussed what happened with the players.

"We talked with the guys. The defeat is painful, but it must be accepted. Today we allowed the opponent too much. That is the result."

Recall that in the first half Uroš Milovanović opened the scoring from a penalty in the 18th minute. Mark Gual equalized in the 40th, but before the break Milovanović completed a brace. In the second half Vitaliy Lisakovich and Luis Guerra brought the score to 4:1 in favor of Tobol.

After the defeat, Kairat remained on 57 points and sits in second place. League-leading Ordabasy has 58 points. With four rounds left in the championship, the teams are separated by one point.

Kairat's next KPL match will be away against Astana on September 17. On the same day, Ordabasy will play away against Atyrau.