FC Noah and AZ, the numbers 19 and 14 of the League Phase, met in Abovyan for the hosts' first competitive outing since their 2-0 loss to Dynamo Kyiv on December 12th. Noah have played five friendlies since then - all coming after January 24th - and won just one of them, beating Lech Poznan to kick off their friendly campaign.
Despite playing their last competitive game over two months ago, Noah controlled the game early on as AZ lacked creativity and energy on the pitch. All the big chances were for Noah, who still failed to score despite Nardin Mulahusejnović coming close on several occasions.
Following halftime, the game slowed down, and neither team created many chances. It made Noah captain Hovhannes Hambardzumyan's effort goal the more surprising - the Armenian veteran eagerly took on a pass from Helder Ferreira and beautifully curled it past Jeroen Zoet in the top left corner.
AZ came away lucky after Zoet played a wayward pass to Penetra, but Noah failed to test the flailing goalkeeper after a slip from Matheus Aias cost them a chance to double the lead.
The visitors came incredibly close to levelling the score just minutes before the final whistle when Troy Parrott hit the post with a lob and Mexx Meerdink couldn't convert on the rebound, leaving AZ with just five minutes of added time to find an equaliser.
But after it was all Noah in the closing stages of Thursday's game, with Jeroen Zoet pulling out one last save to keep the score at 1-0, Kees Smit got one last chance for AZ, but saw Noah goalkeeper Aleksey Ploshchadnyi keep his side's one-goal lead intact for next week's return in Alkmaar.
AZ disappointed mightily in Armenia and will take on Noah in Alkmaar next Thursday without centre-half Wouter Goes, who was shown a yellow card in the 68th minute and will miss the match due to suspension.
Check out all the match and player statistics on Flashscore
