In the first leg of the second qualifying round of the 2025/26 Conference League, Pyunik hosted the Hungarian ETO FC Győr.

Our team had prepared for this match with all seriousness, especially since the opponent was much stronger than Pyunik's opponent in the previous round, San Marino's Tre Fiori.

As our team's head coach Yeghishe Melikyan mentioned during the pre-match press conference, when choosing Pyunik’s starting lineup against Győr, he gave more preference to the more experienced players of the team.

The first minutes of the match showed that our opponent is a physically strong team and has good players in its squad. It was no coincidence that Győr’s players had more possession of the ball, however, in its turn Pyunik didn’t miss the opportunity to surprise the opponent with sharp counterattacks.

In the 21st minute, our team’s defender Nikolaos Kainourgios tackled the ball in the central part of the field and passed it to Matas Vareika, who, playing a wall with Xavi Moreno, invaded the opponent’s penalty area, but Győr’s Swedish defender Alexander Abrahamsson fouled, and the referee awarded a penalty kick to our team.

Marius Noubissi approached the ball and opened the score with an unerring shot. The Cameroonian striker stood out in the second match of the European Cup for Pyunik, both times with a penalty kick.

In the 36th minute, the guests first seriously threatened Henri Avagyan's goal, when after Milan Vitalis’s dangerous shot, the ball, fortunately, hit Aleksandar Miljkovic and deflected. A little later, after a header by Nadhir Benbouali, luck again was on our side.

During the very next attack, Marius Noubissi tried to handle the game, burst into the opponent’s penalty area but the opponent's defender blocked his shot, although in that episode our forward failed to notice Xavi Moreno, who was in a more favorable position.

At the very beginning of the second half, Pyunik had a great opportunity to double the score. Matas Vareika entered Győr’s penalty area speedily from his wing, bypassed the defender, but his shot from a favorable position went high.

After that, Marius Noubissi had a good chance to score a brace, but the opponent's player Miljan Krpic managed to block the ball at the last moment.

The players of Győr gradually tried to increase the pressure, and in the 58th minute, after Claudiu Bumba’s pass, Samsindin Ouro headed high from close range, and a minute later, Zeljko Gavric simply forgave our team, missing a good chance.

In the 63rd minute, Henry Avagyan showed his mastery, first sending back the opponent's long-range shot, then showing his excellent reaction and saving our team after Claudiu Bumba’s shot.

Fortunately, Pyunik successfully withstood the opponent's pressure and managed to score the second goal in the 66th minute. As a result of Alemao’s and Xavi Moreno’s good cooperation on the right wing, Marius Noubissi received the ball in the opponent's penalty area and passed it to Daniil Kulikov, who joined the attack and made the score 2:0. This was already a serious bid for victory from Pyunik.

It seemed that such score totally worked for our team before the second leg, but in the 78th minute, after Milan Vitalis’s pass, Pyunik captain Alexandar Miljkovic tried to tackle the ball, but sent it to our goal post instead. The missed inappropriate goal slightly spoiled the general excitement at the Republican Stadium.

However, in the added time of the game, our team could have regained the 2-goal advantage, but Sergiy Vakulenko shot directly at the goalkeeper from a well-placed penalty spot.

Pyunik won 2:1 and has a good chance to win the confrontation, the second leg of which will take place on July 31.