2018 Tajik League
# 2018 Tajik League

The 2018 Tajik League is the 27th season of Tajik League, Tajikistan's top division of association football. The season began on 10 March 2018.

## Teams

On 8 February 2017, the Tajikistan Football Federation announced that the season would involve eight teams, with Khayr Vahdat, Parvoz and Ravshan dropping out of the league, and Panjshir gaining promotion.

| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| Barkchi | Hisor | Central Stadium | 24,000 |
| CSKA Pomir Dushanbe | Dushanbe | CSKA Stadium | 7,000 |
| Istiklol | Dushanbe | Central Republican Stadium | 24,000 |
| FC Khatlon | Kulob | Central Stadium | |
| Khujand | Khujand | 20-Letie Nezavisimosti Stadium | 20,000 |
| Kuktosh | Rudaki | Rudaki Stadium | |
| Panjshir | Balkh | Panjshir Uktam Mamatova | 8,500 |
| Regar-TadAZ | Tursunzoda | Stadium Metallurg 1st District | 20,000 |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Istiklol | Mukhsin Mukhamadiev | Mutual Consent | 22 May 2018 | 2nd | Alisher Tukhtaev | 22 May 2018 |
| Panjshir | | | | 7th | Rustam Khojayev | 21 August 2018 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Istiklol (C) | 21 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 36 | 16 | +20 | 51 | Qualification for 2019 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs |
| 2 | Khujand | 21 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 42 | 20 | +22 | 46 | |
| 3 | Kuktosh | 21 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 31 | 32 | −1 | 30 | |
| 4 | Regar-TadAZ | 21 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 27 | 26 | +1 | 28 | |
| 5 | FC Khatlon | 21 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 27 | 29 | −2 | 25 | |
| 6 | CSKA Pamir Dushanbe | 21 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 24 | 33 | −9 | 24 | |
| 7 | Panjshir | 21 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 29 | −13 | 18 | Qualification for relegation play-offs |
| 8 | Barki Tajik | 21 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 16 | 34 | −18 | 13 | Relegation to Tajik First Division |

## Relegation play-offs

The 2018 season ended with a relegation play-off between the 7th-placed Tajik League team, Panjshir and the runners-up of the Tajik First Division, Eskhata, on a two-legged confrontation.

Panjshir won 11–4 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remained in their respective leagues.

## Season statistics

### Scoring

* First goal of the season: Sheriddin Boboev for Istiklol against Khatlon (10 March 2017)

### Top scorers

    As of match played 11 November 2018

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sheriddin Boboev | Istiklol | 12 |
| 2 | Jahongir Ergashev | Khujand | 9 |
| 2 | Farkhod Tokhirov | Khujand | 9 |
| 2 | Navruz Rustamov | Khatlon/Regar-TadAZ | 9 |
| 5 | Dilshod Vasiev | Istiklol | 6 |
| 5 | Karomatullo Saidov | Khatlon | 6 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Umarjon Sharipov | Khatlon | Khujand | 4-2 | 7 November 2018 | |
| Farkhod Tokhirov | Khujand | Kuktosh | 3-1 | 11 November 2018 | |
