In the second leg of the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Urartu FC lost to Slovenian NK Maribor with a minimum score. The only goal of the match was scored by Danijel Šturm․

 

AGAINST STEREOTYPES

"The devil is not so black as he is painted" - this popular saying was appropriate in this confrontation. After the draw, when it became clear that Urartu's rivals were the Slovenian NK Maribor, many noted that the Yerevan team had no chance in this confrontation, and, by and large, defeat was inevitable. The first match took place and everyone began to say that Urartu FC is able to defeat this team, despite the defeat․ It was with such determination that Urartu FC approached the 2nd leg.

2 CHANGES IN THE STARTING LINE-UP

Compared to the previous match, Urartu's starting line-up has undergone two changes. Oleg Poliakov and Narek Grigoryan started the game from the first minutes instead of Edgar Grigoryan and Karen Melkonyan. It is noteworthy that on the day of the match Narek Aghasaryan celebrated his birthday, who was on the field from the very beginning both in the first match and this time. There were also two changes in the starting line-up of NK Maribor. Instead of Gal Gorenak and Rudi Požega, Aleks Pihler and Marko Alvir started the match from the first minutes. It was the debut of the Croatian player Marko Alvir with NK Maribor.

CONFIDENT START

Urartu FC started the game quite confidently, however, the first half was not full of scoring chances, but the team looked good. Ugochukwu Iwu had the most realistic moment to score in the first half of this match. After hitting from a long distance, the opponent's goalkeeper only reached with his fingertips to the ball, which eventually flew off the goal post. The teams left for the break with a score of 0-0.

ALL OR NOTHING

It was clear that in order to change the outcome of the confrontation, Urartu FC needed to score a goal, and for this the team's coaching staff used the entire attacking reserve. Livio Milts, Karen Melkonyan, Sergey Mkrtchyan entered the field. By the way, for Mkrtchyan it was the debut for Urartu FC. The Lions tried to somehow change the course of the game, but NK Maribor resisted with dignity.

ONE MISTAKE, ONE GOAL

At the end of the match, when all the thoughts of the Urartu FC players were focused only on the attack, there was an mistake in defense, as a result of which a goal was scored. Danijel Šturm in the 85th minute of the match struck the sheets of Urartu FC on the second attempt: 0-1. There was not enough time to turn the tide of the game, as it was necessary to score 2 goals. There were attacks, but they were not effective. Urartu - Maribor 0-1.

GREAT EXPERIENCE ACCUMULATION

Any defeat is very instructive for the players, especially for those who played at such a level for the first time and against such a team. Yes, Urartu FC lost and dropped out of the fight, but we can say that this game gave the whole team a lot of experience to achieve better results in the future.

URARTU FC - NK MARIBOR

0-1 Danijel Šturm (85')

URARTU: 96. Anatolii Aivazov, 2. Nana Antwi, 26. Annan Mensa (10. Karen Melkonyan 79'), 18. Salomon Nirisarike, 14. Petr Ten, 5. Hakob Hakobyan (c) (25. Edgar Grigoryan 79'), 30. Ugochukwu Iwu, 9. Narek Aghasaryan (19. Sergey Mkrtchyan 79'), 21. Narek Grigoryan (23. Livio Milts 56'), 22. Artur Miranyan, 90. Oleg Poliakov.

Bench: 99. Grigorii Matevosian, 77. Erik Simonyan, 67. Vadym Paramonov, 25. Edgar Grigoryan, 36. Khariton Ayvazyan, 6. Peter Mutumosi, 28. Robert Baghramyan, 11. Gevorg Tarakhchyan, 20. Gor Lulukyan, 19. Sergey Mkrtchyan, 10. Karen Melkonyan, 23. Livio Milts.

MARIBOR: 1. Ažbe Jug, 4․ Vlaž Vrhovec, 5. Robert Volder, 6․ Alex Pihler, 8․ Marko Alvir (10․ Rudi Požeg Vancaš 90'), 15. Jan Repas, 22. Martin Milec (c) (2. Marko Mutavčić 90'), 42. Vid Koderman, 60․ Ilija Martinovich, 77․ Žan Vipotnik (11․ Daniel Šturm 58'), 99․ Nino Žugelj (7․ Rok Kronaveter 68').

Bench: 59. Samo Pridgar, 81. Alexander Bergsen, 2. Marko Mutavčić, 7․ Rok Kronaveter, 10․ Rudi Požeg Vancaš, 11․ Daniel Šturm, 12․ Gregor Sikošek, 13. Rok Sirk, 17․ Aljoša Matko, 14․ Gal Gorenak, 24 ․ Rok Maher, 32. Nemanja Mitrović.