Montenegro – Armenia 0:0: The “Brave Falcons” find no way through the Armenian bunker, three-win streak ends

PODGORICA – Montenegro’s national team, the “Brave Falcons”, could find no solution for Armenia’s deep bunker and were held to a 0:0 draw on Sunday evening at the packed “pod Gorica” stadium, as RTCG reports. With this result, the three-match winning streak of coach Mirko Vučinić’s team comes to an end, after a victory would have equalled the national team’s record of four straight wins.

According to RTCG’s reporting, the Armenians defended with the whole team and the Montenegrins created no clear chances: the best moments were Andrija Bulatović’s shot in the 28th minute and Nikola Krstović’s header. Stevan Jovetić, brought on in the second half in place of Viktor Đukanović, created a few half-chances, but goalkeeper Arsen Beglaryan was never seriously troubled.

The match ended with a small drama: as RTCG writes, in the 86th minute Stefan Lončar was sent off with a red card after a VAR review for a reckless challenge on Narek Hovhannisyan. The match was refereed by Lithuania’s Manfredas Lukjančukas.

But the evening will be remembered more for the stands than for the play. Hours before the match, the streets and cafés of the centre were full, while the stadium filled for the first time in many years; the fans unfurled the banner “Neka naša zemlja našu krv popije” and a giant Montenegrin flag, singing the anthem “Oj svijetla majska zoro” together — and after the final whistle, as RTCG describes, they kept singing “Ti si naša prva ljubav, Crna Goro volim te”.