From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Van-2 than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
Narek Manukyan named in the team of the week
A rating of 6.73 was enough for the selectors, and nobody who watched the match is going to argue with them.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Narek Manukyan has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
18 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match17 Oct 2026
Van-2 throw away a 3-goal lead
3 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Noah-2 the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Van-2 will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match17 Oct 2026
It needed Armen Mkhitaryan to find the net to bring anything home at all: 4‑4 against Noah-2, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Robert Karapetyan after the 4‑4 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Looking ahead: Noah-2 at home
A side in position 15 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
16 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match3 Oct 2026
A hiding for Van-2
Beaten 0‑4 by Lernayin Artsakh, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Van-2 dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Sep 2026
Three points for Van-2, 1‑0 the final word against Urartu-2 in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Robert Karapetyan on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match19 Sep 2026
A hiding for Van-2
Beaten 0‑3 by Andranik, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Van-2
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Van-2 are no longer polite ones.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
There were 16 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match12 Sep 2026
Nowhere to hide for Van-2
0‑4 against Hayq, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Doors closed at Van-2
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Van-2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market7 Sep 2026
Van-2 have let the market know Davit Krasovski can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Narek Manukyan knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Van-2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Van-2
Narek Manukyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Shirak-2 leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Robert Karapetyan after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Aug 2026
A hiding for Van-2
Beaten 0‑7 by Araks Ararat, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match22 Aug 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Van-2 and Araks Ararat in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A penalty is the one moment in football with nowhere to hide, and he did not score it. The walk back was long and the week will be longer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against BKMA-2, and it could have been more.
Match15 Aug 2026
Van-2 settle it inside twenty minutes
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. BKMA-2 spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Robert Karapetyan, on a 4‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Robert Karapetyan after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Looking ahead10 Aug 2026
Looking ahead: BKMA-2 at home
A side in position 16 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vahe Muradyan and Van-2 agree another 4 years.
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.