Tigran Avanesyan Played Full Match in Orenburg’s Victory Over Zenit

Armenia national team midfielder Tigran Avanesyan played the full match in Orenburg’s sensational victory over Zenit in Round 20 of the Russian Premier League. For the 23-year-old midfielder, it was his second match for the new club — and he started both games.

Avanesyan played as a defensive midfielder. Like the entire Orenburg team, he did not have much possession, but his contribution to the final victory was noticeable thanks to his work off the ball and defensive actions.

Tigran Avanesyan Match Statistics

Minutes played: 90+
Shots: 2
Accurate passes: 23 (79%)
Possession losses: 7
Ball progression via dribbles: 13
Clearances: 3
Ball recoveries: 5
Duels: 0 of 2
Aerial duels: 3 of 5
Fouls: 1
SofaScore rating: 6.5

Despite gradually establishing himself in the RPL club’s lineup, Avanesyan was not called up to the Armenia national team for the March matches. This happened even though the team’s main defensive midfielder Ugochukwu Iwu will miss the games due to injury. In this situation Avanesyan could have been useful for the team, but head coach Yeghishe Melikyan is not considering his candidacy for now. At the moment, the midfielder has three appearances for the national team.

Another Armenian midfielder of Orenburg, Pavel Gorelov, was not included in the squad for the league match but played earlier in the week in the Russian Cup.

How the Match Unfolded

The visitors started the game actively. Within the first 12 minutes Zenit earned a penalty and scored a goal. In the 9th minute Gustavo Mantuan missed the penalty, shooting wide, but three minutes later Alexander Sobolev opened the scoring.

Orenburg equalized in the 62nd minute thanks to a goal by Emil Tsenov. The hosts secured the victory with a goal from Evgeny Bolotov in the 86th minute.

In stoppage time Zenit had another chance to save the match: a second penalty was awarded in the 90+6 minute, but Andrey Mostovoy hit the crossbar.

Sobolev scored his fourth goal of the current season. Tsenov and Bolotov each scored their second goals for Orenburg.

According to a Match Premier TV expert, the best player of the match was Orenburg midfielder Jordi Thompson.

Orenburg secured their second consecutive victory, reached 18 points (the same as Dynamo Makhachkala), and temporarily climbed to 12th place in the standings.

Zenit suffered their second defeat of the season and remains second with 42 points.

In Round 21 of the RPL, Orenburg will play away against Dynamo Makhachkala on March 13.

Zenit will play a key match against Spartak Moscow on March 14.