SPORTSWORLD.AM
Armenian champion NOAH faced seven-time Montenegrin champion Buducnost in an away match in the first round of the Champions League qualifying round.
Sandro Perkovic made two changes to the starting lineup compared to the first match of the confrontation. Virgil Pinson and Gor Manvelyan remained on the bench.
In the opening seven minutes of the match, Oulad Omar opened the scoring, bringing his tally of goals in the Champions League to two. In the overall standings, the Yerevan club took a comfortable lead right from the start of the match.
After opening the scoring, Sandro Perkovic's men continued to put pressure on their opponents. Matthias Jollenbeck sent Ivan Bulatovic off the field with a red card.
In the opening thirty minutes, NOA did not give up on its tactics, and at that time, Alen Grgic doubled his team's advantage in the overall standings, making the score 3:0.
Overall, Menak Lalatovic's men committed relatively fewer fouls during the first half, but were left with ten players at halftime.
Oulad Omar has become a kind of executioner for Budućnost. As the newly appointed head coach of NOA said about the 28-year-old footballer, "I brought him out on the field to score a goal and he fulfilled his task."
In the second half, Buducnost always encountered serious resistance from the Armenian champion/cupholder when leaving their half of the field and lost the ball. Having the advantage, NOA did not retreat in defense and demonstrated the football they were capable of playing.
In the second half, the concentration weakened, in response to which "Budučnost" reduced the score thanks to Igor Ivanovic, then in the first minute of added time of the match, Petar Grich managed to score a goal defended by Ognjen Cancarević.
Thus, the Yerevan club won the aggregate match 3:2 and qualified for the second qualifying round of the Champions League, where they will face Hungarian side Ferencvaros.