Nair Tiknizyan felt the atmosphere of the “eternal derby” in Serbia

In the 9th round of the Serbian SuperLiga on September 20, Crvena Zvezda defeated Partizan away (2:1) and retained its leadership in the league.

The score was opened in the 28th minute by Timi Elsnik. In the 60th minute, Nemanja Radonjić doubled the visitors’ lead. Partizan responded only in the 74th minute with a goal by Jovan Mišević.

Armenia national team defender and Crvena Zvezda player Nair Tiknizyan started in the lineup and played the first half. At halftime, he was substituted due to a yellow card.

After the match, Crvena Zvezda’s head coach explained the decision:

“Tiknizyan received a yellow card and had difficulties in one-on-one duels with Demba Seck. We didn’t want to risk a second booking and possible sending off.”

According to SofaScore, Tiknizyan received a 6.9 rating and was active in attacking actions.

However, the Serbian press was much stricter:

Nova.rs — 5.5: “The weak link in defense during the first half. Against him, Demba Seck looked like one of the best dribblers in the world. Milojević had to substitute him at halftime.”

Sportklub — 5: “Seck beat him twice and clearly exposed the defensive problems of the Armenia international, which were also noticeable against Lech and especially against Pafos. He shows plenty of energy and activity in attack, but in defense he doesn’t inspire trust. The substitution was logical — he was the weakest player, falling into the ‘gray zone’ after 45 minutes and failing to cope with Seck.”

In such a tense match as Partizan - Crvena Zvezda, it is difficult for any player to play, but for Nair this was the first such experience, which will greatly help him in future matches.