Banants meet MIKA in Cup final

FC Banants claimed a place in the Armenian Cup final by defeating FC Pyunik in the semi-final second leg.

Early lead
The first leg finished 1-1, and Pyunik dominated the first half of the return and managed to break the deadlock after 17 minutes thanks to a goal from Edgar Manucharyan. Agvan Mkrtchyan came close to extending the lead as his 25-metre shot was well saved by Banants goalkeeper Dmitri Vorobiev.

'Golden goal' winner
Banants rallied strongly after the interval as both Ara Hakobyan and Ahsot Grigoryan came close to scoring before Hakobyan levelled the game on 76 minutes to send the tie into extra time. The 'golden goal' arrived eight minutes into the additional period, as Banants substitute Aram Sargsyan scored from Karen Simonyan's cross to send Banants into the final.

Third final for MIKA
FC MIKA reached the final for third time as they recorded a comfortable 3-0 win against FC Shirak following 1-1 draw in the first leg. Aram Voskanyan converted a penalty after ten minutes to open the scoring and defender Marat Mkrtchyan made it 2-0 18 minutes later. David Grigoryan scored the third three minutes before the hour.

Final date
MIKA, who won the Cup in 2000 and 2001, and Banants will meet in the cup final in Yerevan on 27 May.