Down but not out: Armenia fights to 1:3 in Russia

Retains Euro 2012 qualification chance

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Monday June 06, 2011

Movsisyan (no. 14) attempts to breach Russian defense as Pizzelli (no. 8) on left charges forward. Konstantin Rybin / RFS.ru

Washington - Armenia’s football squad fought for every possession and refused to leave the much more eminent Russia with initiative throughout the ninety minutes of the June 4 game in St. Petersburg. Performance was a subtantial improvement over the March 26 game in Yerevan which Russians dominated but that ended at 0-0.

The 1:3 outcome this time hinged on two close calls that went against Armenia towards the end of the game - one set a penalty shot that Russia converted - and another refused to validate a goal by Henrik Mkhitaryan that was judged offside.

Russians began the game strong, pressing for an early goal in the first 10 minutes, but Armenia quickly re-grouped and pressed back.

On 11th minute Armenia had its first opportunity but after beating the Russian defense for the ball Yura Movsisyan instead of passing to Gevorg Ghazaryan who was in a scoring position to the right attempted an own shot on goal that was deflected to a corner kick.

Movsisyan compensated fully for that mistake on 25th minute when on a fast-evolving counterattack he with one touch passed the ball to Marcos Pizzelli who tossed the ball past Russian goalkeeper and oncoming defender and into the net.

Celebrations were short-lived however as Russia equalized in under two minutes. A shot by England's Tottenham Hotspur forward Roman Pavlyuchenko was stopped by Armenia's goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky but from inside the goal line, leaving sides level at 1:1 at the end of first half.

In the second half Pavlyuchenko managed two more goals against his namesake - after a smart combination attack on 59th minute and from a penalty shot on 73rd.

But even down 1:3 Armenia continued fighting to the end of the match. After Mkhitaryan's attempt on 85th minute, Movsisyan had another chance on 91st but his tip over the goalkeeper went wide.

Game statistics reflected a relatively even game. Russia had possession 54 percent of the time, with home team attempting 5 shots on goal to Armenia's 4 and, unlike in Yerevan, Armenia led in corner kicks 8 to 6. 

Qualification chances remain

But even with this disappointing loss Armenia's football team retains chances of qualifying for 2012 European Championship - for the first time in iArmenia's history - if it manages to win in all or most of its last four games of the campaign.

Armenia's combative performance in Russia makes this difficult goal look realistically obtainable.

On September 2 Armenia will play in Andorra and on September 6 in Slovakia. Victories in those games would give Armenia 14 points and likely elevate it to third or possibly even second position from present fourth in the group of six, depending on outcome of other games.

Team that finishes first qualifies automatically, second spot taker would qualify for a playoff against fellow second spot finisher from another group.

Armenia would still need at least one victory at home against Macedonia on October 7 and/or in Ireland on October 11 to get into playoffs.

Current standings in the Group B are as follows:

              Points     Goals for-against

Ireland       13          11-6

Russia        13          9-4

Slovakia      13         6-4

Armenia      8           10-7

Macedonia   4           5-8

Andorra       0           1-13

Connect: http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012