Ireland keep World Cup dreams alive with a 1-0 win against Armenia
By Conall Diggin
An Evan Ferguson strike was enough for Ireland to overcome Armenia 1-0 and keep their World Cup qualification dreams alive at the Aviva Stadium.
Before the match, Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson said he would ‘take us playing a sh**ty game and winning 1-0’, and Ireland’s first-half performance was the personification of the former, while the final score would produce the latter.
Neither side found much success in the first half, with Ireland’s best chance coming in the 4th minute. A corner that found Jake O’Brien at the front post before the Everton man headed wide.
Armenia began to grow into the game, with their star man Eduard Spertsyan stringing a few passes together before firing a shot on goal, which lacked the pace and power needed to trouble Caoimhín Kelleher.
Ireland’s next opportunity would come in the 20th minute, as winger Festy Ebosele’s cross would not be cleared properly by the Armenian defence, falling to the feet of Ryan Manning, whose first-time effort would be dragged well wide of the goal.
15 minutes later, Armenia would have the best chance of the half after Kamo Hovhannisyan floated a perfect cross to the back post, where Sperstyan was unmarked. The midfielder with the freedom of the Aviva would volley wide, not even troubling Kelleher in the Irish net.
Groans and boos were heard ringing around the Aviva as the two sides headed in for the half, as their World Cup qualification hopes hung in the balance.
Ireland began the second half well, working the ball well down the right-hand side as Will Smallbone crossed to Finn Azaz at the back post, whose header was easily grabbed by the Armenian keeper Henri Avagyan before he was bundled into by Seamus Coleman, who picked up the game’s first booking.
The turning point would come in the 50th minute after winger Tiran Barseghyan headbutted Azaz, forcing the referee to produce a red card that would finally give Ireland a foothold in the game.
This began Ireland’s brightest spell of the game, with them forcing two top-class saves from Avagyan in the 51st and 56th minutes, with Ireland unable to take a much-needed lead.
The Armenian shot-stopper would make his third big save of the half in the 68th minute. After a nice ball around the corner from Azaz reached Evan Ferguson and saw the Roma striker one-on-one with the keeper, but his tame effort was easily stopped.
Two minutes later, though, Ferguson would not make the same mistake. A short corner to Smallbone saw him whip a perfect ball into the corridor of uncertainty where the Meath man was unmarked and headed home to give Ireland the lead.
The final 3 chances of the game all came from Ferguson’s replacement, Adam Idah.
In the 81st minute, some great work but a poor cross from Manning saw Idah reaching back to force a shot on target that was somehow clawed away again by Avagyan.
A few minutes later, an Ogbene cross was deflected just out of the path of the Cork man.
Idah would finally find the back of the net; after some nice interplay on the edge of the box, the Swansea striker rifled home an unstoppable shot. Only for the linesman to flag for an offside in the build-up to the goal.
Despite the win, Hungary’s late equaliser against Portugal means that although Ireland’s qualifying hopes are still alive, they now must hope that Armenia can get a result against Hungary next month; otherwise, they require at least a point against the Portuguese before victory in their final game in Budapest.
No easy task for The Boys in Green.
Republic of Ireland: Caoimhín Kelleher; Nathan Collins (captain), Jake O’Brien, Dara O’Shea; Seamus Coleman (Chiedozie Ogbene 65), Ryan Manning, Jayson Molumby, Will Smallbone (Jack Taylor 81), Finn Azaz, Festy Ebosele (Festy Ebosele 65); Evan Ferguson (Adam Idah 81)
Armenia: Henri Avagyan; Sergei Muradian, Erik Piloyan (Vahan Bichakhchyan 81), Styopa Mkrtchyan, Kamo Hovhannisyan; Ugochukwu Iwu, Nayair Tiknizyan, Eduard Spertsyan; Tigran Barseghyan, Zhirayr Shaghoyan (Lucas Zelarayán HT), Grant-Leon Ranos
