SPORTSWORLD.AM
In the last match of the eighth round of the Fastex Premier League, CSKA hosted Ararat-Armenia at the Technical Center/Football Academy. The Army came into this match with two consecutive losses, while Ararat-Armenia is undefeated in the current Fastex Premier League championship.
At the start of the game, Kamo Hovhannisyan and his teammates played a little passive football, but gradually tried to increase the pace of the game, as a result of which Ararat-Armenia forward Arayik Eloyan was injured. From these events, Armen Gyulbudaghyants' boys created several chances at the Ararat-Armenia goal, but the goalpost came to the rescue. Although there were no goals in the first twenty minutes, both teams played spectacular football. Vyacheslav Afyan and his teammates retreated with their entire squad to prevent the Ararat-Armenia players from attacking the approaches to their own penalty area. Manuel Tulipa's boys were trying to find the way to the "army" goal, and at that time Andranik Hakobyan played with his hand in his own penalty area, which did not escape the sight of Vardan Manukyan, who awarded a penalty kick from which Juan Balanta scored the goal defended by Davit Davtyan on the way to the locker room.
At the start of the second half, CSKA equalized the score, Grenik Petrosyan passed to Narek Hovhannisyan, who scored the goal defended by Bruno Pintu, which was his third in the current championship. After Levon Bashoyan and his teammates restored the balance, Ararat-Armenia head coach Manuel Tulipa made a substitution, trying to influence the course of the game and also giving playing time to Alvina Tereva, Paul Ayongo and Rodrigo Aryuts, who replaced Kamo Hovhannisyan, Arayik Eloyan, whose injury is not serious, and Zhirayr Shaghoyan. The 28-year-old Kenyan substitute Tera had a great chance to score the goal defended by David Davtyan, but failed. He last scored the goal for the “army” last season. In the 73rd minute of the match, Ararat-Armenia earned a second penalty kick and Juan Balanta scored his first double for the Black and Whites, while also scoring his fifth goal of the current season (2:1). CSKA equalized the score again in the last minute of added time with a penalty kick, which was converted flawlessly, making Narek Hovhannisyan the scorer of the double.
Ararat-Armenia ends its unbeaten streak and will face Gandzasar Kapan at home before the international break, while Armen Gyulbudaghyants' men will face Ararat Yerevan in an away game. After this round, Arararat-Armenia is in fourth place in the standings with 15 points. CSKA is in seventh place with seven points.