Armenia Stun Montenegro, Win 3-2
Stuck in the basement of Group E, Armenia made a coaching change hoping to get the Havaqakan back into the thick of things with all eyes focused on Russia in 2018. Artur Petrosyan took over and continued to confirm the exile of Yura Movsisyan, the best striker the nation may have ever had, to the dismay of the Armenian people, namely the diaspora in the States that gets to see Movsisyan dominate in the MLS.
Combine that with an abysmal first half, where Montenegro took a 2-nil lead, in just as many minutes thanks to finishes from Damir Kojasevic and Stevan Jovetic had the curtain being glued shut in Yerevan. Montenegro seemed confident to continue it's unbeaten streak and unexpected run as the leaders of Group E.
All but five minutes into the second half, Artak Grigoryan blasted one past Mladen Bozovic, sending the stadium into buzz, filling it with hope. Just his third cap for the senior side, the 29-year old defensive-midfielder plays his domestic football in Armenia for Alashkert, not known for his scoring prowess, having scored just twice in 24 matches in the Armenian Premier League.
Defensive guys were huge for Armenia on the offensive end, as 24 minutes later, Varazdat Haroyan also got his first goal for the Senior side, calmly finishing a corner kick that went awry in the net, falling in his lap. The 24-year old center/left back plays in Iran for Padideh and has made 22 caps for the senior side.
Armenia then kept trying to put pressure on, to get the winner, but it was Jovetic who nearly secured his brace, catching Arsen Begalryan in no-man's land before it was cleared off the line. A moment of relief for the home side.
Once the 90th minute hit, the officials revealed that three minutes were added into stoppage time, and, again, Armenia kept searching for a winner. With about 15 seconds remaining prior to the 93rd minute, the official was seemingly ready to blow the whistle and end the game, when Haroyan led Gevorg Ghazaryan with a beautiful through ball, causing the official to wait and see.
And that is all Armenia needed, as GG scored a beautiful shot from outside the box, outside of Bozovic' reach, giving Armenia the lead. The 10th goal for the senior side was the first for Ghazaryan since he scored a last-second winner against Petr Cech's Czech side in Prauge during the 2014 World Cup cycle.
Now, Armenia sits with 3 points, one ahead of Kazakhstan, who they host in March, though Kazakhstan has a game in hand and is currently tied 1-1 with Denmark with 20 minutes left in the opening half.
