Pyunik Suffer Narrow Defeat to Debrecen in First Conference League Qualifier

Yerevan’s Pyunik suffered a narrow defeat in the away leg of their UEFA Conference League second qualifying round tie. Artak Oseyan’s side lost 1–0 to Debrecen in Hungary.

The result leaves the Armenian club with a good chance of progressing to the next round. The return leg will take place in Yerevan on July 30.

Overall, the match was an evenly contested affair. Pyunik came closer to opening the scoring in the first half but were unable to convert their chances.

After the break, Debrecen took the lead through a superb long-range strike from Florian Cibla. It proved to be the only goal of the match and secured victory for the Hungarian side.

Pyunik had opportunities to equalise, creating several dangerous chances. Hovhannes Harutyunyan came particularly close, hitting the post with one of his efforts.

New winger Viti, who previously played in the Portuguese championship, made his debut for Pyunik in the match.

Artak Dashyan was forced to leave the pitch with an injury in the 28th minute.

Pyunik starting line-up

Henri Avagyan — Artak Dashyan (28, Kainourgios), Mykhailo Kovalenko, Serhiy Vakulenko, Filipe Almeida (57, Darbinyan), James Santos — Karlen Hovhannisyan, Hovhannes Harutyunyan (66, Viti), Sead Islamovic, Daniil Kulikov (66, Griffith) — Momo Yansane (66, Pikis).