Ararat-Armenia beat Shamrock Rovers 2-0 in Yerevan on Tuesday, giving the Armenian champions a two-goal cushion ahead of next week’s UEFA Champions League second qualifying round return leg in Dublin.
Head coach V. Minasyan kept faith with a 4-3-3 that tasked A. Tera and K. Muradyan with driving through Shamrock’s 3-5-2 structure. Stephen Bradley’s visitors rarely found rhythm before the interval, their best spell ending when Lee Grace was booked in the 40th minute for bringing down Sandro Lima between the lines.
The restart brought the breakthrough. Minasyan pushed his front three higher after the interval, and Sandro Lima converted in the 51st minute once Ararat-Armenia had pinned their guests deep, forcing Bradley to chase the tie earlier than planned.
Minasyan’s bench delivered the knockout blow. M. Carlier replaced B. Pereira in the 60th minute to steady the left side, and a double change five minutes later introduced Zidane Banjaqui for Tera and França Carlos for Z. Shaghoyan. The pair combined to finish the job, with França Carlos threading the pass that Banjaqui tucked away in the 80th minute.
Bradley responded with a triple change in the 67th minute—J. Mulraney, L. O’Regan, and Jonathan Afolabi—but Joao Bravim’s defence stayed composed. Matthew Healy’s yellow card in the 81st minute underlined Rovers’ frustration. Tempers flared late on as Junior Julio and Afolabi were booked in the 89th minute, before Banjaqui collected his own caution in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Ararat-Armenia now take a 2-0 lead to Tallaght Stadium, while Shamrock Rovers must find a sharp response to extend their European campaign.
