Armenian Premier League

By HAKOP ALAJAJYAN
Haladzha@uci.edu


Impuls FC of Dilijan and Shirak FC of Gyumri helped kick off the 19th tour of the 2010 Armenian Premier League season season with a 2-2 draw. Impuls had taken a 1-0 lead at the half-hour mark with a goal by the Brazilian Elton, and the boys from Dilijan quickly struck another goal six minutes later thanks to midfielder Tigran Voskanyan. However, Shirak, a club currently sitting at last place in the table and facing relegation, showed tremendous heart as forward Andranik Barikyan netted a brace to help tie the score, despite Shirak’s Garnik Sargsyan getting sent off with a red card in the 51st minute. With the comeback tie, both teams retained their spots in the table with Impuls sitting at 5th and Shirak still sitting in the last relegation spot with only one win to their name.

At the Vazgen Sargsyan Hanrapetakan Stadium, Ulisses FC took on Kilikia FC, both of Yerevan. The match ended in a scoreless draw and saw both teams retain their spots at 3rd and 7th place, respectively.

The third game of the week saw Mika FC take on Gandzasar FC. It took only three minutes for the game’s score line to open up as Mika were awarded a penalty kick after a player taken down rashly in Gandzasar’s penalty box. Mika’s Brazilian legionnaire Ednei calmly put the ball away into the left side of the net as Gandzasar’s keeper guessed incorrectly and jumped to the right. Mika dominated the rest of the game in terms of possession and scoring chances, but last year’s runners-up were not able to find the back of the Gandzasar net, and the match ended 1-0 in Mika’s favor. This was Mika’s third victory in a row after hiring new coach (and former player) Armen Shahgeldyan and have turned it into a four way race for the title as Mika is creeping slowly towards a top-three spot, whereas Gandzasar sits firmly at 6th, happy to avoid relegation.

Lastly, the match of the week of the APL was between first- and second-place teams Banants and Pyunik. The match was a free-flowing and fast-paced which saw both teams get clear opportunities on goal. However, it was the defending champions Pyunik who took first blood with an absolute firecracker of a goal by Karlen Mkrtchyan at the stroke of halftime. Mkrtchyan coolly took the ball near the center circle and, with no defenders around him, took one touch and ripped the ball straight into the right corner of the net. Pyunik, eager to cut the gap between them and Banants from five points to two, did not let up as Edgar Manucharyan increased the lead to 2-0 two minutes into the first half’s stoppage time as his long-range free kick was deflected off the wall and rose straight to the top corner of the Banants net.

However, the 1st place “Banana Boys” did not give up, as the Brazilian Betu forced in a sloppy goal in the 75th minute of play. Seven minutes later, Banants would even the score after Deniran Ortega of Nigeria headed in a splendid cross. The table leaders clearly happy to walk off the pitch with a draw, and the split allowed them to maintain their five point lead over Pyunik for the week.