SPORTSWORLD.AM
In a match postponed from the third round of the Fastex Premier League, Pyunik hosted Ararat-Armenia, led by Manuel Tulipa. Before the start of the match, the teams observed a minute of silence in memory of Nikita Simonyan, the head coach of the 1973 USSR Cup winner, Yerevan Ararat (Ararat-73), who passed away on November 23 at the age of 99.
This season, these teams meet on the field for the first time, the last meeting was on March 28. At the start of the match, the teams showed active football. Matches involving “Pyunik” and “Ararat-Armenia” usually take place in a heated battle, and this match is no exception. In the 18th minute of the match, as a result of the ineffective action of Manuel Tulipa’s boys, “Pyunik” opened the score of the match (1:0) as a result of the cooperation of Xavi Moreno and Aleksandar Milkovich, who bypassed the defenders of the “Black and Whites” on the approaches to the penalty area, goalkeeper Arman Nersesyan also failed. Before the goal was scored, the match was played with mutual attacks, after which the “Pomegranate” slightly retreated to their own half of the field. At the end of the first half, the 16-time champion of Armenia took advantage of the opponent's mistakes: Ararat-Armenia had possession of the ball, coming forward and giving free space at the back, which gave Pyunik a chance to advance.
Today's match is of great importance for the head coach of "Pyunik" Artak Oseyan, he spent a significant part of his coaching career at "Ararat-Armenia", being the assistant of Vardan Minasyan and Artur Mkrtchyan, who is now the senior coach of "Pomegranates". In the second half, both teams were active, as in the first, there were scoring episodes, where "Ararat-Armenia" could restore the balance of the score, but faced certain problems in the final stage of the attack. At the end of the match, Mikhail Kovalenko quickly shifted his team's actions from defense to attack, where Matas Vareika was waiting, but in his place was the goalkeeper of "Ararat-Armenia" Arman Nersesyan. Armen Hambardzumyan and his teammates showed with their game that they do not want to lose, as they are the leaders of the championship and the undefeated team of the current season until this match, but the most titled club in Armenia has its own problems, who also strive for victory. Thus, “Pyunik” achieves a victory over the leaders of the championship, bringing the number of points to 26, equaling the third-place “Urartu” in the tournament table, “Ararat-Armenia” continues to lead the tournament table with 31 points.