InternationalArmenia wins in must-win match vs Slovakia
Published: Tuesday September 06, 2011
Armenia's national football team earlier this year. Melik Baghdasarian / Photolur
Related Articles
Down but not out: Armenia fights to 1:3 in Russia
Disappointment, relief as Armenia draws Russia
Movsisyan brings goals, victory to Armenia football
Washington - Armenia took a giant leap towards Euro Cup 2012 qualification after beating Slovakia on their turf 4-0 in September 6 match.
After playing on defensive throughout the first half, Armenia came to life in second On 57th minute after Maros Pizzelli delivered Armenia's corner, a Slovak defender kicked the ball out, but first Karlen Mkrtchyan header and then Hrair Mkoyan tip moved the ball to Yura Movsisyan who concluded with a one-touch deadly strike to far corner of Slovak goal.
Veteran goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky and Armenia's defense fought hard to keep the advantage, with captain Sarkis Hovsepyan at one point clearing the ball just before the goal line, but then Henrik Mkhitaryan made it 2:0 with a precise long-distance shot on 70th minute.
Mkhitaryan can take credit for two more goals.
On 80th minute he put Gevorg Ghazaryan before a virtually empty net and Ghazaryan capitalized.
And in extra time at 91st minute after Slovak defense gave up the ball under pressure from Artur Sarkisov, who just came in for Movsisyan, Mkhitaryan went one-on-one but his shot hit the woodwork only to bounce back to Sarkisov, who headed the ball in for Armenia's fourth and his own first for the team. (Grozny, Russia-born Sarkisov is Armenia's newest recruit.)
Qualification chances
In group B's other key game earlier in the day Ireland held to a scoreless draw in Russia, leaving the group results undecided with just two rounds to go.
Russians are atill leading the group with 17 points, followed by Irish with 15. Armenians are now third with 14 points, with Slovaks fourth with as many points but firmly behind Armenians after two losses.
Russia's remaining games are away in Slovakia and at home against Andorra. Ireland first goes to Andorra before receiving Armenia at home.
With Russians and Irish likely each to take three points from Andorrans, Armenia still needs to win in the two remaining games: at home against Macedonia on October 7 and away in Ireland on October 11 to ascertain its qualification chances.
Potential scenarios
Should it win in its two remaining games, Armenia might even contend for the top spot in the group should Russia also lose to Slovakia and beat Andorra and Slovakia also win against Macedonia. That would set up a three-way tie with Armenia, Slovakia and Russia at twenty points each, but Armenia and Slovakia claiming top spots in the group by virtue of winning the maximum points in games among the three teams under that scenario (Armenia - 7 points, Slovakia - 6 points and Russia - 4 points).
Should Slovakia not win against Macedonia, leaving Armenia in a two-way tie with Russia, Russia still advances from first since it won one and tied another of its games against Armenia.
Should Russia tie or win in Slovakia they will remain on top (given the likely Andorra win at home), Slovakia would be out of contention and Armenia and Ireland will be left to fight for the second spot, with a tie sufficient for the Irish to qualify.
The second spot winner will then likely need to go to play-off against another second place finisher in one of the eight other groups. Those matches are planned for mid-November.
Unprecedented run
Last fall, after back-to-back victories at home against Slovakia (3:1) and Andorra (4:0), Armenia earned a historically unprecedented chance of qualification.
This year for Armenia has been more difficult, after a goalless draw at home followed by 1:3 away loss, both to Russia, and two losses in friendly matches against Georgia (1:2) and Lithuania (0:3) Armenia finally won when it defeated Andorra 3:0 in an away game on September 2.
"I know full well that Armenians from around the world are impatiently waiting" for the game in Slovakia, Armenia's forward Movsisyan told ArmSport.am, a news site just before the game. "Victory [there] will take us a step closer to Armenian nation's dream" of qualification. And so it did.
"This is a huge victory for us," Movsisyan told UEFA.com after the game. "I'm not surprised by it; we believed in each other from the very beginning. This was a chance to prove once again that we have a good team, and the fact that we scored all our goals from open play shows that we have good players."
Movsisyan, Mkhitaryan and Ghazaryan now have four goals a piece after eight matches and Marcos Pizzelli has another three, making Armenia's offensive line the most productive in Group B qualification campaign so far.
Standings in Group B following September 6 games:
Team Games Points Wins Draws Losses Goals For / Against
1. Russia 8 17 5 2 1 10 / 4
2. Ireland 8 15 4 3 1 11 / 6
3. Armenia 8 14 4 2 2 17 / 7
