By Mark McCadden
Copyright irishmirror
What’s the Armenian for ‘Can we play you every week’?
Ireland’s World Cup campaign is dead and buried, just two games in, an all-too familiar feeling in recent years.
Looking at some of the social media commentary as last night’s game progressed, many were asking why we should expect to beat this Armenian side.
Not only are they ranked 105th in the world, 45 places below Heimir HallgrÃmsson’s side, but their recent record has been appalling.
The Faroe Islands took four points from them in the most recent Nations League campaign, while Georgia chalked up a 9-1 aggregate win in their relegation play-off earlier this year.
Their last clean sheet came over three years ago – against Ireland!
In their last 22 competitive matches they won just three – all of them against Latvia, who are 137th in the FIFA rankings.
And manager Yegishe Melikyan is their seventh, including two caretakers, since the start of 2020.
This is a new low, a new record in the era of FIFA rankings, as Ireland had never lost to a side so low in the table before. Luxembourg were 98th when they pulled off a Covid snatch-and-grab in 2021.
Armenia looked like world-beaters at times, particularly after their second goal, which summed up the Irish display.
Between players not closing down in midfield and defenders with too slow to react, the hosts could barely believe their luck.
They broke behind the Irish back-line with embarrassing ease and regularity, and Caoimhin Kelleher, who was given the man of the match award on Saturday, was the only man that stood between Armenia and a bigger lead.
It was mind-boggling how Ireland could start so brightly, yet fade so dramatically and quickly.
Memories of that promising start have long since faded, but here’s a recap.
Ireland forced a save inside 30 seconds and a goalline clearance a few minutes later.
In those early moments, it looked as though a wall of white had been built up on the fragile Republican Stadium turf to imprison the Armenians inside their own half.
With Matt Doherty dropped to the bench, Ryan Manning started in the left-back role, but that didn’t curtail the 29-year-old’s attacking instincts.
Azaz playing narrow on the left gave his clubmate plenty of space to rampage forward, and in those early stages he did just that.
Straight from kick-off, Nathan Collins launched the ball down the right channel for Chedozie Ogbene to chase.
One of the fastest players in the modern game, he was already in line with the top of the penalty box by the time the ball landed at his feet.
He kicked off a fine move that saw play move quickly from right to left, with Jack Taylor, Evan Ferguson and Josh Cullen all helping the ball out to Ryan Manning.
The Southampton left-back went inside to Finn Azaz, and his new Saints teammate’s shot on the turn forced goalkeeper Ognjen Chancharevich to dive low to his right to save.
The intensity of Ireland’s early play continued and Ferguson’s pressing forced Chancharevic into a number of hurried clearances, some of which went straight out of play.
When Kamo Hovhannisyan battled past Ryan Manning, Cullen read the threat and was there to win back possession.
And when a cross from the left evaded everyone inside the area, Ogbene used his pace to get to the ball before a defender that had a decent head start.
All this inside the opening three minutes. The Armenians didn’t know what hit them. It’s little wonder they started to make sloppy errors, like the one that presented Ferguson with a chance.
He chased down the goalkeeper, who raced to the top right hand corner of his area to gather. It looked like a straight-forward take, but he spilled the ball out to the Irish striker.
Ferguson spun and lifted the ball over the retreating net-minder’s head, but a heroic effort by Erik Piloyah to provide cover was rewarded with a brilliant goalline clearance.
By the 10th minute, when Ogbene squandered a great chance at the back post, Ireland were still pressing high, with Ferguson and Jack Taylor putting the squeeze on short goal-kicks. Azaz and Taylor were high up in support of the Roma striker.
But soon it began to unravel. Armenia got out of their own half and grew quickly in confidence, with Nayair Tiknizyan, Lucas Zelaryan and Grant-Leon Ranos leading the way.
Zelarayan and Ranos had efforts, and Ranos should have opened the scoring in the 36th minute, only to be denied by an O’Brien block and then the crossbar.
But when Nathan Collins was slow to react to a 44th minute ball into Zelaryan, and caught the attacker instead, the breakthrough came from the penalty spot.
Spertsyan waited to see which way Kelleher was committed to before aiming for the opposite corner, beating the Corkman’s late effort to switch direction.
While Ireland started the second-half against Hungary with a goal, it came at the other end on this occasion, as the hosts doubled their lead through Ranos.
There was so much space in midfield for Ugochukwu Iwu and Spertsyan to link up, and find a run of Tiknizyan that was seen too late by O’Brien.
He squared the ball to Ranos, who was a half-step ahead of Collins to slam the ball high into the net from eight yards.
Armenia began to attack at will, and even after Ferguson pulled a goal back, with a fine curling finish from half-time substitute Adam Idah’s pass, the hosts’ heads didn’t drop.
Zelarayan got the better of Collins to win a long ball and rifle off a shot that Kelleher did well to save, Tiknizyan raced behind the defence to force another stop, and Bichakhchyan’s shot was deflected over.
VAR spared Ireland the embarrassment of conceding a third in the 90th minute as Armenian players lined up to shoot, but this one will live long in Irish footballing infamy.
