July 11, 2023
Although a 19.00 local time kick-off, a three hour time difference with the UK meant that the match-up between the champions of Armenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina was the first match to start in the First Qualifying Round of the Champions League.
These diaries regularly reported on the 2019/20 season in Armenia after its resumption following the Covid lockdowns. That season Urartu finished outside the top 6 play-off group, and eventually finished in 8th place.
Formerly known as FC Banants, the club are one of the traditional giants in Armenian football, with the rivalry with Pyunik being one of the biggest in the country, with Pyunik seen as representing the higher classes compared to Urartu being located in the lower-class neighbourhood of Malatia-Sebastia.
Home is the all-seat 4,860 capacity Urartu stadium, which has a grass pitch and is part of a sporting complex with another ground for the reserve team, plus other training and 7-a-side pitches, an indoor area, as well as a gymnasium and a swimming pool. It is a noted training academy and has a reputation for developing young players. Urartu are often referred to as the Proud Lions, or simply just the Lions.
Of the players featured for Urartu in these diaries in 2019/20, forward Karen Melkonyan is still with the club and has since won one cap. Ex-Dnepr Mogilev keeper Arsen Beglaryan has joined Ararat-Armenia in the close season, Erik Petrosyan is now with First League Gandzasar whilst Abraham Portugalyan is now plying his trade with Slavia TU Kosice in the 3rd division of football in Slovakia. Defender Hakob Hakobyan ( 4 caps ) is also now with Ararat-Armenia.
Urartu improved to finish 3rd in 2020/21 but slipped back to the 5th place in 2021/22. However, they came good in 2022/23 to claim their second ever Armenian league title, finishing three points clear of Pyunik.
Last season’s top scorer was Ukrainian Dmytro Khlyobas with 9 goals, but the ex-Dinamo Minsk and Desna Chernhiv striker has subsequently signed for Kazakh side Qyzyljar SK Petropavlovsk, whilst ex-Noah Russian Maksim Mayrovich, who scored 8 goals, has been released and is currently without a club. However, Narek Grigoryan ( ex-Jagiellonia Bialystok and 8 goals ) and Russian Leon Sadua ( ex Krasnodar – 7 goals ) are still on the books. There was a touch of irony in that three of the four goal scorers for a club famed for developing young Armenian talent were foreign !
Other notable names featuring for Urartu last season were French, ex-Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Ajax, Charlton and Huddersfield striker Yana Sanogo, ex-Lori and Pyunik naturalised Nigerian midfielder Ugochukuw Iwu ( 4 caps ), Ghanaian defender Nawa Antwi ( ex-Lori ) and ex-Torpedo Moscow midfielder Oleg Polyakov. Burkina Faso midfielder Dramane Salou scored for Slutsk at Dinamo Minsk as reported in these diaries in 2020, and has since played for Noah and Pyunik.
Urartu have been busy in the transfer market ahead of this tie, signing ex Fluminense and Braga Brazilian midfielder Eduardo Teixeira, Montenegrin defender Perisa Pesukic from Serbian side Novi Pazar and was previously at Zeta, Iskra and Buducnost in his home country, and Russian striker Pavel Mogilevets ( 4 caps ) has joined from Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan, having played for Zenit St Petersburg and Rubin Kazan in the past. All three were on the bench tonight.
HSK Zrinjski Mostar were featured in these diaries back in November 2022, when they overcame FK Borac Banja Luka 1-0 in a bad-tempered game and after having been reduced to 10 men, to stay top of the table. Zrinjski went on to win the Bosnian league by 20 points to retain their title, and their 8th overall, which is the most since the Bosnian league was formed in 2000/01. Their nick-name is The Nobles.
The obvious star player for Zrinjski is 32 year old striker Nemanja Bilbija ( 2 caps ), who has found the net an incredible 76 times in 93 games since re-signing from South Korean side Gangwon, having scored 40 times in 80 games in his first spell at Zrinjski.
By winning the 2021/22 league, Zrinjski entered the Champions League but were eliminated at the first hurdle by Moldovan Champions Sheriff Tiraspol, 0-1 on aggregate. Dropping down to the Europa Conference, Zrinjski first got past KF Tirana of Albania, winning both ties to progress 4-2 on aggregate and then had a notable success to knock-out Tobol Kostanay of Kazakhstan 2-1 over two matches. In the play-off round for a place in the group stages, Zrinjski lost a penalty shoot-out to Slovan Bratislava after a 1-0 home win and a 1-2 loss in Slovakia.
Mostar is situated in Herzegovina, and Zrinjski have traditionally been the team for the ethnic Croatians in the city, whereas rivals Velez have been supported by the Bosniaks. The club’s badge draws heavily on Croatian imagery, and they have many players born in Croatia. Zrinjski’s starting XI included 7 Croats, with a further three on the bench
Dinamo Zagreb winger Mario Cuze was on loan at Zrinjski last several but has signed permanently this season. Croatian born centre-back Hrvoje Barisic is now a Bosnian citizen and has one cap for Bosnia whilst another key player is ex-Hadjuk Split and Lokeren wing-back Mario Ticinovic. Right-back Josip Corluka has 3 caps for Bosnia and defender Marsel Ismaelgeci has 3 caps for Albania. Ex-Antwerp striker Irfan Hazdic was prominent in the match against Borac Banja Luka, but signed for Tuzla City in last season’s winter break.
The temperature at kick-time was 23 degrees on a sunny evening. Bet365.com, who streamed the match live, made Urartu 2/1 outsiders, with Zrinjski 29/20 favourites and the draw also 2/1. As far as the UEFA co-efficients were concerned, Armenia were ranked 37th and Bosnia 40th, so a close tie could be expected.
Zrinjski were in their usual Peru style kit of all white with one red diagonal stripe whilst Urartu were in an all-blue kit without any sponsor’s name on the front. The referee and his assistants were from Malta.
The visitors were immediately on the front foot and after just three minutes Canadija saw his shot from 12 yards hit a defender, and shortly after Corluka made a surging run down the right wing only for his low cross to be hacked clear.
Zrinjski continued to dominate, and with just under 20 minutes played, Canadija had a long-range effort go narrowly wide.
Urartu’s attempted to play out from the back had twice nearly got them into trouble against Zrinjski’s high press, and a third attempt resulted in a poor pass going off for a corner.
Another corner from Ivancic found Malekinsic beyond the far post but his downward header bounced up quite nicely for Urartu keeper Melikhov to save, but anyway the referee awarded a foul against the Zrinjski forward.
After being largely outplayed in the opening half-hour as Canadija stood out in midfield for Zrinjski, the Armenian champions started to enjoy some possession and got into the game. Captain Margaryan made his way into the Zrinjski area only to exaggerate his dive to the floor with Canadija nowhere near him. The yellow card was shown as a reward for leading by example.
Salou then delivered a low ball across the face of the Zrinjski goalmouth which Corluka turned off for a corner before it could reach Maksimenko. From the resulting corner, Iwu’s long range shot went 15 yards wide.
Zrinjski fashioned their best chance of the game to date in the 35th minute when Ticinovic was put in space down the right and his cross beyond the far post was met by Malekinsic, but the header crashed against the post with the keeper motionless. Marin then saw a left footed shot saved low down by Melikhov.
However, the best chance of the first half belonged to Urartu. A minute before half-time, ex-Vasco da Gama Brazilian Marcos Junior dummied a pass directed to him and then ran onto Sabua’s wall pass to be clear, but his shot flashed across the goal and a couple of feet wide of the far post. It would have been a fabulous goal !
The scores were level at the interval with Zrinjski having looked much the superior side but the chance for Marcos Junior could have served as a wake-up call.
Urartu made two changes at the break, bringing on Sonogo and Polyakov, and looked a much better side as a result. Although Tsymbalyuk was forced to concede a corner shortly after the restart when Cuze released Marin, Urartu appealed strongly for a penalty as good inter-play between Marcos Junior and Polyakov saw the ball strike the arm of Stanic, but the referee waved play on.
Sonogo then looked to have fouled Stanic but the Maltese ref saw it the other way and gave a free-kick to Urartu just outside the area. Margaryan stepped up to send the ball onto the top of the crossbar and over.
Zrinjski were looking less threatening as the home side grew in confidence. A good tackle thwarted Sonogo’s run into the area but when the loose ball fell to Grigoryan, the shot was weak and easily saved.
Zrinjski’s response was a short period of pressure with last ditch tackles and blocks keeping them at bay, and when Grigoryan broke, Stanic was forced to pull his shirt to stop the danger and justifiably was shown the yellow card. It was Stanic’s last piece of action as he was immediately substituted.
The 40 or so Zrinjski fans who had made the long journey to support their side were now bare chested and waving their shirts over their heads, whilst the Urartu ultras behind the goal were also excitedly cheering their side on. This was despite there not actually being much happening on the pitch !
Iwu’s 30 yard effort was only gathered by Maric at the second attempt but in the 78th minute, the home side really should have taken the lead. Barisic’s poor back-pass went towards Sonogo, but the ex-Arsenal striker couldn’t get a decent contact on the ball, and Maric did well to spread himself to make the save. The rebound went to Polyakov, but the Russian could only plonk the ball over the bar from just outside the area.
Polyakov had another chance for glory in the 83rd minute but his free-kick sailed over without inconveniencing Maric.
Sonogo then had to be replaced after picking up an injury, and Antwi then also had to helped off the field. As Urartu were trying to re-organise, Zrinjski forced a corner. Keeper Melikhov completely misjudged the arc of Kozulj’s delivery, leaving centre-back Matej Senic free at the back post to head into the unguarded net for a soft goal.
Quite frankly, the goal was against the run of play and the celebrations by Senic resulted in a melee between many players on both sides. When peace was restored, Senic became the 5th Zrinjski player to receive a yellow card.
With 7 minutes of added time to be played, there was still time for Urartu to find an equalizer. Ozbiliz showed good skill to beat Zlomisilic on the right and his cross was headed back across goal by Polyakov, but Zrinjski were able to scramble clear. Polyakov then fired in a dangerous low cross from the left, which Memija prodded away from inside his 6 yard box, but Margaryan hit over from 14 yards.
With time now in the red zone, Urartu won another free-kick on the edge of the area. Ozbiliz could only shoot into the wall but Mogilevets headed the ball back into the mixer, where Piloyan produced an acrobatic scissor-kick. Agonizingly for the Lions, the ball drifted narrowly wide, and Zrinjski were able to celebrate their away win.
With the home leg to come next week, Zrinjski should now be favourites to progress to the next round where the winners of Slovan Bratislava or Swift Hesperange await. However, Urartu can take heart from their second performance where they more than matched Zrinjski and could feel hard done by with the final score.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxEnmwrkbpM
FC Urartu : Melikhov – Antwi ( Pesukic ), Piloyan, Tsymbalyuk, Margaryan –Salou ( Mogilevets ), Iwu, Marcos Junior, Grigoryan – Sabua ( Sonogo, Ozbiliz ), Maksimmenko ( Polyakov )
HSK Zrinjski Mostar : Maric – Corluka, Senic, Barisic, Marin ( Memija ) – Stanic ( Zlomisilic ), Canadija, Ivancic ( Kozulj ) – Ticinovic ( Sabljic ), Bilbija, Malekinsic ( Cuze )
No comments:
Post a Comment