Ararat edged Bkama 2-1 in the Premier League's Regular Season round three on Friday. The visitors, who sat tenth with three points from six games, took their first win of the campaign away from home. Bkama, eighth with seven points, dropped further behind after a run that included a heavy 3-0 defeat to Alashkert last week.
The opening exchanges were tight, with cautions coming at five and nine minutes. Neither side could carve open the other, and it was only in the second half that the deadlock broke. Ararat went ahead through P. Alekyan in the thirty-sixth minute, then doubled their lead just before the break when D. Harutyunyan struck.
Bkama came out for the restart with fresh legs, bringing on H. Ghukasyan and M. Asiryan together. The change seemed to spark something, and by the fifty-third minute P. Handzongo had pulled one back. To be fair, the home side pressed hard for an equaliser, but Ararat's defence held firm.
Coaches made multiple alterations as the game wore on. Bkama threw on N. Hovhannisyan, A. Sargsyan and others in a bid to find a way through. Ararat responded with P. Alekyan replaced by A. Grigoryan at seventy-one minutes, then brought on M. Fofana and G. Lima in the eighty-fifth. And here's the thing — those late changes may have been more about protecting a lead than chasing glory.
The result lifts Ararat off the bottom of the table for the first time this season. They now have four points from six fixtures, while Bkama remain in the middle pack with seven. Three points can feel like a lifetime in these early rounds, and Ararat certainly put the game to bed when it mattered most.