Soccer: Italy Defeats Spirited Armenia 3-1 in Yerevan

A boisterous Hrazdan Stadium in Yerevan was the venue for the Group B clash between Armenia and Italy on Fri., Oct 12. Although not a convincing performance, the Italians showed their pedigree in recording a 3-1 away victory. The score line could be considered somewhat flattering on the visitors, who struggled for long periods in the match under pressure from a fierce Armenian pressing game. When it counted, however, Italy was able to find the net. A penalty after 10 minutes from Andrea Pirlo was cancelled out by a beautiful strike from Henrikh Mkhitaryan later in the first half. Italy edged ahead in the second half with a thumping header from Daniele De Rossi and the finishing touch on the fixture was added late in the second half from the head of Pablo Osvaldo. Though not represented in the final score, the Armenian team themselves were dangerous at times, with many good moves orchestrated in midfield by Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The Shakhtar Donetsk man once again proved his class at the highest level and turned in a terrific performance for his country. The finishing touch that the Italians seem to have readily on-tap somehow eluded Armenia at the crucial moments. When their guilt-edged opportunities in front of goal presented themselves, they were spurned. In particular, with the score knotted at 1-1 early in the second half, Davit Manoyan was denied the go-ahead goal by Gianluigi Buffon. His volleyed shot from a pin point Mkhitaryan cross was turned away. Later in the second half, now trailing 2-1, Mkhitaryan was making things happen once again. A squaring pass to Movsisyan seemed to have the equalizer written all over it, but a last ditch challenge deflected the ball inches wide and sent the partisan crowd into despair. After receiving much criticism on their recent performances in World Cup qualifying, the usually patient and methodical style of the Italians was cast aside in the opening 10 minutes of the match and a renewed urgency was on display from the visitors. In contrast, the Armenian side looked unorganized and nervous in the opening exchanges and was under severe pressure from the get-go. The Italians tested Roman Berezovsky early and often. The big man stood up to the early onslaught very well. Firstly he denied Osvaldo from a spinning close range shot before later pulling out a save from the top drawer to turn Andrea Pirlo’s vicious free kick away from the top corner of the net. On the 10-minute mark, Domenico Criscito made a dangerous run and cross from the left wing. Montolivo turned a shot goal-ward and Berezovsky made a reaction save with his leg. The rebound fell to Montolivo once again and as he lost his balance he kicked the ball off of Hrayr Mkoyan’s arm. Although his arm wasn’t raised, the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and putting Mkoyan’s name in the book. The decision could be described as marginal, if not a little harsh, but Andrea Pirlo didn’t argue, as he buried the penalty to the left corner of the net to tally his 11th international goal. After that strike, the Armenian players seemed to settle down and play their game. As the half progressed the Armenian players were finding their feet in midfield and challenging the Italian defense. There was plenty of joy to be had by Özbiliz and Mkhitaryan down the right wing while Bonucci looked shaky under the constant harassment of Yura Movsisyan. The home side got the reward for their endeavor in the 27th minute. Andrea Pirlo in midfield chose to head a ball backwards towards his fullback Christian Maggio. Selling him a little short, the resultant 50/50 challenge with Davit Manoyan broke kindly for Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Not needing a second invitation, Mkhitaryan turned on the after burners, he sped past two defenders and dispatched a clinical left footed finish to the corner of the net. It was a superb strike from a man in form. The match was being played in a very open fashion and at a cut throat pace at this stage. That suited the Armenia team, who continued their dominance until the half time break but were unable to add to their tally, making the turn at one goal apiece. With the Italians being bossed around the park for the latter stages of the first half, Cesare Prandelli was sure to have some harsh words for his players at the break. But it was in fact the Armenians that continued the good work into the early stages of the second half as Artur Edigaryan had an effort cleared off the line. There were good chances at both ends in the opening exchanges of the second half. Italy’s Sebastian Giovinco earned a yard in the box and blazed a shot over when it looked like he had the goal at his mercy. Movsisyan responded with a run down the right and his cross come shot flashed across the six yard box with Mkhitaryan unable to get on the end of it. Next, Italy had yet another hand ball claim in the box from an in-swinging Andrea Pirlo free kick, but this time the referee waved play on. On the 57-minute mark Mkhitaryan made another barreling run into space on the right wing. With Movsisyan making the near post run, he chose to lift his cross to the back post where Davit Manoyan arrived and met the ball on the half volley. The powerful shot ended up at a very savable height for Buffon in goal and he turned the ball away from danger with his usual efficiency, a great chance going unconverted. Seven minutes later the Italians took the lead against the run of play. Andrea Pirlo clipped an inviting cross into a very dangerous area from the right hand channel and Daniele De Rossi arrived late into the box to crash a header off the underside of the crossbar and into the net. The delivery into the box had such quality that Robert Arzumanyan was caught totally flatfooted and Roman Berezovsky was rooted to the spot and could only watch De Rossi climb highest to bury his header. The tie was in the balance for Armenia at this stage. The next goal would dictate how the last 20 minutes would play out. Although the Armenian players were tiring and were nearly caught on the break when El Shaarawy’s shot was tipped over by Berezovsky following a deflection, they still posed a real goal scoring threat of their own. Henrikh Mkhitaryan was leading his side by example with tremendous energy, hustle, and endeavor. Chasing down a ball from Edgar Manucharyan on 75 minutes, his work caught Leonardo Bonucci in possession at the right hand edge of the box. Looking up he sent a squaring pass to Yura Movsisyan, who in turn took the shot first time from all of six yards. The ball flashed passed the post, hit the advertising hoardings and rippled the back side of the net. There was a moment’s hesitation from the players as they processed the fact that the chance had in fact gone wide and the Italian lead remained intact. Replays showed that a tremendous saving block from an Italian defender actually redirected Movsisyan’s shot and averted the danger, but on the scale of things he should have found the back of the net. The high tempo of the game was beginning to tell on the Armenian players as the Italian side, holding the lead, began to turn the screw. The youngster El Shaarawy had a shot cleared off the line from a great opportunity but eventually the third goal came on 81 minutes and it signaled the end of a spirited effort from the home side. Daniele De Rossi curled in a free kick from the left flank and Robert Arzumanyan was out jumped again, allowing Sebastian Osvaldo to guide the ball to the top corner of the net. The quality of the delivery yet again left Berezovsky a complete spectator. Italy ran out the remainder of the fixture with the two-goal cushion and return to Milan to face Denmark with the three points in their back pocket. Although this result was a crushing home defeat and a blow to Armenia’s chances in Group B, some solace can be taken from the quality of the Armenian performance and the effort each member of this young team put forth against an Italian side that was the runner up in Euro 2012 only four month ago. The table is pretty grim reading at the moment but the landscape of Group B will most certainly change on more than one occasion as the rounds progress. Being a competitive group, teams will take points from each other at every turn, for example Bulgaria and Denmark playing out another draw in the group also on Oct. 12. It was almost 20 years to the day that Armenia played Moldova on Oct. 14, 1992 and began competing on the international stage as an independent nation. The program has progressed by untold leaps and bounds since the early days, and the new crop of young players show great promise and have great potential. At a time of celebration, the Italians unfortunately came to spoil the party. Dropping points to the team favored to win the group will become less significant provided Armenia can regroup and beat the other teams around them. It’s going to be a long few months stewing over back to back defeats, but knowing another home fixture awaits against the Czechs in March the focus will most certainly be on moving this team forward. Armenia: R. Berezovsky, Artak Edigaryan, R. Arzumanyan, H. Mkoyan (YC), V. Aleksanyan (YC), K. Mkrtchyan (YC), H. Mkhitaryan, Artur Edigaryan (YC) (65’ E. Manucharyan (YC)), A, Özbiliz, D. Manoyan (77’ A Sarkisov), Y. Movsisyan Coach: V. Minasyan Italy: G. Buffon, C. Maggio, L. Bonucci (YC), A. Barzagli, D. Criscito, D. De Rossi, A. Pirlo (74’ E. Giaccherini), C. Marchisio, R. Montolivo (88’ Candreva), P. Osvaldo, S. Giovinco (YC) (60’ El Shaarawy) Coach: C. Prandelli Referee: M. Strahonja