The Ireland and Armenia national teams, the weaker sides in Group F of the World Cup qualifying stage, fought for victory as they had not yet lost their chances of reaching the playoffs. This was reported by Euro-football.ru.
At the end of the first half, Kamo Oganesyan delivered an accurate cross from the right wing to the far corner, but Eduard Spertsyan struck the ball close to the goal, hitting the post. In the 52nd minute, Tigran Barsegyan headed Finn Azaz in the opponent's half and received a red card.
Ryan Mening made a cross to the left corner, Nathan Collins headed the ball, but the goalkeeper blocked it at the last moment. Evan Ferguson went one-on-one after an excellent pass from Azaz from the center, but his shot was saved by the goalkeeper.
In the 70th minute, the hosts played the corner kick well, and Ferguson headed the ball into the goal from a cross by William Smallbone from the left wing, opening the score. Troy Parrott passed the ball from the left wing to the center, but Jason Molambi's shot from 20 meters went slightly over the crossbar.
Mening advanced quickly along the left wing and gave an accurate pass to Adam Aydu, whose powerful shot was saved by the goalkeeper. Aydu played with Azaz and delivered an accurate shot from the left corner of the penalty area, but the goal was disallowed due to offside.
Ireland is one point behind Hungary (5 points) with 4 points, while Armenia has 3 points. Portugal has 10 points and the other teams cannot catch up with them.
Match protocol: Ireland 1:0 Armenia. Goal scored by Ferguson in the 70th minute.
The starting lineup included Kelleher, O’Brien, Collins, O’Shea, Coleman, Smallbone, Molambi, Mening, Ebosele, Azaz, and Ferguson. The substitutes included Travers, Bazunu, Ferry, Dann, Johnston, Coventry, Makatir, Igan, and others.
Armenia's lineup featured Avakyan, Piloyan, Muradyan, Mkrtchyan, Oganesyan, Ivu, Spertsyan, Tiknizyan, Barsegyan, Ranos, Shagoyan, and other players. The match took place at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
