In the 31st match day of the Armenian Premier League Pyunik hosted Shirak of Gyumri.

In comparison with the previous match Aleksandr Tarkhanov made one change in the starting lineup of our team; Vyacheslav Dmitriev entered the pitch instead of Serob Grigoryan.

It was a couple of seconds after the start of the match when Shirak could have opened the score of the match. Artyom Gevorgyan faced Andrija Dragoevich alone and after his shot the ball went out of the pitch by the vertical goal post. Meantime Shirak footballer collided with our goalkeeper and both players received assistance.

Pyunik’s fast counterattack on the 3rd minute could have succeeded but Shirak’s defender managed to prevent Erik Vardanyan’s last pass.

However, only 2 minutes later our team managed to move ahead in the score. Sergei Shevchuk passed the ball to Shirak’s penalty area from a corner where Maksim Zhestokov opened the score by a header, 1-0.

After the stormy start the game calmed down a little and went on without goal moments.

On the 32nd minute Moussa Paul Bakayoko tried to succeed with a kick from the penalty area but Andrija Dragoevich was on his place.

5 minutes later after our team captain Rumyan Hovsepyan’s shot the ball appeared out of the pitch.

On the 29th minute a dangerous moment was created at Pyunik’s penalty area but, fortunately, Artyom Gevorgyan’s kick from a lying position was weak.

On the 32nd minute after Erik Vardanyan’s mighty shot the ball was caught by Shirak’s goalkeeper Vsevolod Yermakov.

On the 39th minute luck could be on Shirak’s side when after Zhirayr Margaryan’s kick the ball bypassed the goal and flew out of the pitch. Andrija Dragoevich was unable to do anything in that episode and only cast a glance upon it.

Before the interval this time it was Shirak that avoided a goal. After Erik Vardanyan’s and Arthur Miranyan’s perfect combination the ball appeared with Usman Mohamed but his dangerous shot ended to be a little high.

At the beginning of the second half in one of the episodes it seemed that Shirak’s goalkeeper Vsevolod Yermakov rushing at Arthur Miranyan handled the ball but the main referee found there was no foul.

On the 50th minute after a corner Shirak got a good chance to equalize the score but after Marco Prlevich’s header the ball went straight in Andrija Dragoevich’s hands.

On the 56th minute the guests threatened Pyunik’s goal again when after Artyom Gevorgyan’s mighty kick Dragoevich possessed the ball from the second try.    

On the 61st minute Shirak managed to escape another goal by a miracle. After Usman Mohamed’s kick Yermakov pushed back the ball which was taken by Sergei Shevchuk and sent to the unguarded goal but Aram Shakhnazaryan prevented it and after the rebound the ball hit the horizontal post and didn’t appear in the goal.

On the 77th minute after a corner Arthur Miranyan could have doubled the score but after his close range header Yermakov reacted perfectly and saved his team.

On the 79th minute Pyunik again had a good opportunity when after Sergei Shevchuk’s pass from a corner Rumyan Hovsepyan received the ball and it hit the opponent’s defender after Hovsepyan’s strong kick.

Our team was trying to score the second goal at any cost and determine the winner of the match.

Finally, on the 89th minute as a result of Erik Vardanyan’s and Sergei Shevchuk’s quick counterattack Shevchuk smoothly addressed the ball to Arthur Miranyan who  sent it to Shirak’s goal post with one click and put a full stop to the match, 2-0.

Pyunik celebrated its 5th win in a row and for 5 match days before the end of the championship continues the struggle for the champion title.