With Conor Hogan
Wrap up: Yerevan could’ve been a banana skin as the Armenians have defeated Belgium and Poland there in recent times. Ireland scored late but at least they scored. It was a narrow win but at least it was a win. Kevin Doyle was tireless as was Liam Lawrence, Robbie Keane played well, though he was profligate.
It wasn’t the greatest all-round performance by the team, though the most important thing is the three points. With Ireland practically guaranteed three points against Andorra next week, it gives them them the chance to lead from the front.
Thanks for joining us for today’s live matchtracker.
Join us again next week when we will be doing the live report on the Andorra match.
Full time
Armenia are putting Ireland under a bit of pressure at the moment. This is far less comfortable than it should have been as Armenia haven’t exactly looked impressive.
Kenny Cunningham gives the Man of the Match to Liam Lawrence, who has been good going forward and has tracked back tremendously. I would’ve given it to Doyle, but Lawrence has played well.
Paul Green gives the ball away AGAIN. The ball is played into Movsisyan, but John O’Shea shepards the Randers’ striker well and Given gathers the ball.
Robbie Keane is replaced by Wolves’ Andy Keogh for the final six minutes. His finishing has been poor, but Keane’s all-round performance has been quite good.
Ten minutes to go, and the pace of the game has slowed considerably since the goal was scored. Ireland are in complete control at the moment.
Finally, Ireland score. Trapattoni’s decision to bring on Keith Fahey is justified as Keith Fahey puts the ball into the net from a rebound off a defender. A lot of good work by Keane in the build-up. The Birmingham man’s first goal for Ireland. This is Ireland, though, so it is far too early to relax.
Goal Ireland
“Sack Trap now… refuses to play with an attacking midfielder,” says Macced before adding the even more extreme, “Shoot trap now… fahey for mcgeady , the old Italian is on drugs.”
Richard Dunne almost scored an outrageous own-goal, when his attempt to head the ball clear goes the wrong way, and just over his own bar. At the other end, the indefatigable Kevin Doyle runs at the Armenian defence, before shooting from outside the box. It goes straight into Berezovsky hands.
Sean St Ledger slips and gives away an absolutely needless corner. It is played in, Karlen Mkrtchyan volleys it and it floats just over the bar. It is Aiden McGeady who comes off for Fahey. Kenny Cunningham calls it ‘like for like.’ Not really, Kenny.
Kevin Doyle is once again absolutely tireless, and seems to have more energy than the energiser bunny. He’s created a load of chances. It’s a pity Keane’s finishing has been so poor. They showed a replay of the miss again, my jaw is still dropping. Keith Fahey is about to come on. I guess it will be for Paul Green.
I cannot believe it! Robbie Keane’s finishing again lets him down as he hits the post from about three yards. Shocking stuff.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has a stinging shot from outside the box, which Given gets down low to finger away. The Shakhtar Donetsk man looks a proper player. Ireland would want to get the finger out.
A corner is played into the box which Paul Green head away. It is played in again and Artur Yedigaryan has a great chance from right in front of goal, but the 23-year-old show a lack of composure, and his shot is blocked. Armenia should be ahead. Terrible couple of minutes by Ireland.
“Kevin Kilbane should be carted off the the glue factory,” says Pedro from Pamplona. Yeah, he’s possibly the only Irish player who wouldn’t get into the Armenian team. Good to know we have followers from as far away Navarre.
Armenia break quickly, the ball is played into Movsisyan, who himself plays a quick ball into Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Luckily, Shay Given gathers. Ireland may be dominating, but they have to be wary.
Lawrence has a speculative effort from outside the box. It goes way over the bar, but there was a deflection and a corner is given. Lawrence plays the corner in, which Roman Berezovsky flaps at. The ball is cleared again, but surely it can only be a matter of time now before Ireland score.
Game kicks off again. McGeady plays the ball into Doyle who can’t quite dig it out from under his feet. It’s cleared. Good start, though.
Dunphy is talking nonsense, claiming Arzumanyan’s foul on Robbie Keane wasn’t a penalty. Giles and Brady look on incredulously.
“I can’t remember Green passing the ball, I can’t remember Whelan passing the ball,” says John Giles in the RTE studio. Dunphy sees very good signs from the match, however, and is convinced Ireland will win.
The first half has been a bit worrying. Ireland have been the better team and have had plenty of chances. They just haven’t put any away. Keane’s finishing has been especially weak, while Ireland should definitely have had a penalty.
The longer the game goes, the more the heat will affect the Irish, while the Armenians are dangerous on the break. Yura Movsisyan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have been pretty decent for the Highlanders.
Half time
“Paul is horseshit,” says Macced. That’s a bit harsh on the horse. I can’t believe Trapattoni refuses to give McCarthy and Wilson a chance.
Randers’ Yura Movsisyan has a powerful shot from outside the box that goes just over. Great play. Movsisyan is in great form so far this season, scoring nine in 13 matches.
Robbie Keane went down in the box again. It was a dramatic fall, but there definitely was contact. Ireland might well feel a little hard done by, as it wasn’t given.
A bit worrying Ireland haven’t scored yet. With that astonishing heat, the Irish are probably going to run out of steam before the Armenians are. Shaktar’s €7.5 million man Henrikh Mkhitaryan has a shot from outside the box goes straight into Given’s hands.
A quickly taken free-kick was played into Robbie Keane, who put it in the net. It was flagged for offside, however. Correct decision by Mr. Szabo and his linesman.
McGeady has been Ireland’s best player so far today, though you suspect if Damien Duff was fit he wouldn’t get anywhere near the team. In all fairness, he has rarely impressed for the Republic the same way he has for Celtic. The Armenian players are just about SPL standard. Let’s hope that isn’t his level, or else his move to Moscow won’t be much of a success.
I’m impressed with George Hamilton’s attempts at pronouncing the Armenian players names, though I have no idea if he is correct. Spelling them is difficult enough. A free-kick is played into captain Sargis Hovsepyan, who volleys it over. The defender is winning his 114th cap today.
Armenia have picked out Aiden McGeady as Ireland’s danger man and have two men marking him. He has won several free-kicks. Glenn Whelan takes the latest one, and it goes straight into Roman Berezovsky’s hands.
Terrific save by FC Khimki’s Roman Berezovsky from a header from Sean St Ledger. Ireland are causing them all sorts of problems from set pieces, though frankly Armenia are catching us on the break.
Paul Green has given the ball away several times. He impressed against Algeria, but perhaps is a bit nervous today. Or maybe its the pitch. Dunphy thinks he’s good. Expect him to set the world alight later in the game then, considering Dunphy doesn’t rate Ronaldo.
Armenia broke quickly once again from an Ireland free kick. The ball was played into American citizen Yura Movsisyan. It was intercepted by Shay Given, who fumbled it slightly.
John O’Shea played the ball into Keane, who goes down like a ton of bricks in the Armenian box. It wasn’t given. Maybe his reputation precedes him.
Route one football. A goal kick by Given, was flicked on by Kevin Doyle into the path of Keane. The Tottenham Hotspur man shot wide. Terrific chance.
The Armenians broke quickly and caused all sorts of havoc. Malakyan had Dunne and company for pace. Worrying.
The Hanrapetakan Stadium can only hold 15,000, yet is still nowhere near full. The tickets were overpriced apparently. Liam Lawrence played in a corner which was headed clear.
The referee Zsolt Szabo noticed there was a problem with the nets, which had become unfastened. That delayed the start a little. The game now kicks off.
Armenia Team:
Berezovsky, Hovsepyan, Arzumanyan, Karlen Mkrtchyan, Arakelian, Grigorian, Artur Edigaryan, Malakyan, Pachajyan, Movsisyan, Mkhitaryan.
Tina Turner’s Simply the Best is playing in the Republican Stadium in Armenia.
A 5,500-year leather moccasin was found earlier this year in Armenia. Below is a picture of the incredible find.
Let’s hope for an attacking performace today. “Trapattoni has banged on and on about instilling a winning mentality, but what he has actually instilled in the team is a ‘not losing’ mentality. He still sets his team out like it was still 1977-1978, the era of two points for a win and one for a draw, when his Juventus team could win the Italian League despite drawing 14 out of their 30 matches,”That’s my opinion. Click here to read the article that quote comes from.
Eamon Dunphy in the RTE studio likes Paul Green, “I’m struck by his confidence and poise,” he says. Giles on the other hand would definitely have gone for Match of the Day hero Darron Gibson.
The temperature in Yerevan is close to 40 degress celsius, which might be a bit of a problem. The pitch doesn’t look too great either.
Armenia are in our qualification group for the 2011 Under-21 championships, and they have defeated us home and away. A lot of that could be put down to the horrible mismanagement of Don Givens.
We’ll give you the Armenian team as soon as we get hold of it. The main players to look out for are 36-year-old goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky, who has saved 14 penalties in his career in the Russian League, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan; a 21-year-old attacking midfielder who recently transferred to Shakhtar Donetsk for €7.5 million.
Armenia finished bottom of their qualifying group for the World Cup, but they should still be tricky opposition. They’ve managed wins against Belgium and Poland in the last two campaigns, as well as draws against Portugal, Finland and Serbia. To see a profile of them, as well as all the other teams in Ireland’s group click here.
1513
“Finally we can move on from poxy paris. Best way to move on is with 3 points. C;mon the lads !!” says Robbie1982.
Under an hour to go before the kick off of the match. Here’s a reminder of the Irish team.
Republic of Ireland: Shay Given, John O’Shea, Sean Saint Ledger, Richard Dunne, Kevin Kilbane, Liam Lawrence, Glenn Whelan, Paul Green, Aiden McGeady, Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle.
Â
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
