SPORTSWORLD.AM
As part of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, Yerevan's NOA hosted the Hungarian Ferencvaros at home.
The game started with Sandro Perkovic's men showing activity. Realizing that the Armenian champion likes to come out of defense with short plays, Robbie Keane's men were positioned high, not giving "Noah" an opportunity to easily get out of their own goal area near the goal defended by Ognjen Cancharevic.
Yerevan club newcomer Alen Grgic and Ulad Omar are becoming more and more closely linked, it is noteworthy that the Croatian footballer opened his scoring account for his new club in an away match against Buducnost in Podgorica. Omar constantly appears where he is not expected.
Playing a wall with Jan Eteki, they appear behind the opponent. Ten minutes before the end of regular time in the first half, Stefan Gartenmann scores an own goal.
The Armenian champion/cupholder managed to maintain the lead until the last minute of added time, during which Kaylum O'Dawda equalized the score.
At the start of the second half, Noah's defenders make a mistake in our penalty area on the second floor and Barnabas Varga forces Helder Ferreira and his teammates to restart the match from the center of the field.
In the 55th minute of the match, Sandro Perkovic made a double substitution. Alen Grgic and Helder Ferreira were replaced by Marin Jakolish and Hovhannes Hambardzumyan, respectively.
If Noah overcomes the Ferencvaros ban, they will most likely face their former head coach Rui Motta's Ludogorets. If they do, Hovhannes Hambardzumyan and his friends will face the loser of the Lincoln Red Impulse-Crvena Zvezda pair in the Europa League qualifying round.
In the second half or as of the 72nd minute of the match, "Noah" did not create any dangerous moments as such.
Gor Manvelyan, noticing Hambardzumyan on the right flank of the attack, tried to direct the ball to Yakolish, but his individual performance was not satisfactory. The attacking midfielder of the Armenian national team, Edgar Sevikyan, also received playing time. Ibrahim Cisse left his team with ten men in the 82nd minute.
Throughout the match, "Noah" felt like the true owner of the field, even having a numerical advantage, they were unable to do more, but the champion of Armenia has the opportunity to neutralize the one-goal advantage and appear in the third round of the Champions League qualifying round.
The return match between the teams will take place eight days later, on July 30, in Hungary, and will kick off at 22:00 Yerevan time. Let us add that our team has not lost before at the Vahagn Tumasyan Sports Complex in Abovyan, where it also holds its home matches of the domestic championship.