PYUNIK HAVE WON THE LAST FIVE ARMENIAN TITLES
by Khachik Chakhoyan

uefa.com, Switzerland
Aug. 14, 2006

With Armenian sides’ involvement in Europe over for another year,
the focus has returned to domestic football where FC Pyunik look to
be running away with the title.

Running away
After 15 games, Samvel Petrosyan’s Pyunik are already 13 points clear
of second-placed FC MIKA. Having decided not to strengthen their
squad during the one-month break for European competition games,
Pyunik blooded some players from their feeder club in their most
recent game but still managed to maul FC Gandzasar Kapan 5-1.

MIKA second
Second placed MIKA hold the unique honour of having beaten Pyunik
twice this season, but since those victories came in the Armenian
Cup and Armenian Super Cup, they have had no bearing on the title race.

Attacking midfielder Davit Grigoryan has returned to the club from
Kazakh side FC Yesil Bogatyr Petropavlovsk but results have been mixed.

Mixed results
Grigoryan showed his potential as he scored his side’s only goal in
the 4-1 aggregate defeat against Swiss side BSC Young Boys in the
UEFA Cup first qualifying round, although the attacking midfielder
could not find the target at FC Shirak in the most recent league
game. That 0-0 draw gave FC Banants the chance to take second place
but they missed their cue, losing 3-0 at FC Ararat Yerevan.

Banants gloom
It was a sign of the times for Banants who have made drastic changes
following their away goals defeat by Georgian side FC Ameri Tbilisi in
the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup. The club have offloaded
Sergey Sizikhin and Olexandr Dyndikov while signing forward Viktor
Arefev from FC Olympik Donetsk and midfielder Aleksandr Khistev from
FC Naftan Novopolotsk.

Ararat changes
Ararat have also made significant changes in recent weeks following
Varuzhan Sukiasyan’s appointment as coach. Brothers Nshan and Sergey
Erzrumyan, previously the strike force at FC Kilikia, have boosted
their forward line, with Nshan scoring twice on his debut against
Banants. Meanwhile, Kilikia will experiment with young players for
the remainder of the campaign.

Ulis experiment
At the foot of the table, FC Ulis Yerevan are also hoping to give
youth a chance having released experienced player Ararat Harutyunyan
and Karen Egiazaryan. They have taken Gevorg Nranyan and Artur Agasyan
on loan from Pyunik but will need to steady their nerves if they are
to avoid relegation.