Armenia 4 Macedonia 1:ARMENIA, who play the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night, boosted their hopes of claiming a top-two finish in the group with a comfortable victory over 10-man Macedonia in Yerevan yesterday afternoon.
First-half goals by Brazilian-born Marcos Pizzelli and Henrik Mkhitaryan set the hosts up for a third consecutive victory which temporarily put them top of Group B before the evening kick-offs.
Macedonia’s misery was compounded when captain Velice Sumulikoski was sent off for a second booking in the 53rd minute.
Armenia wasted several chances after the interval before Gevorg Ghazaryan made it 3-0 midway through the second half.
Vance Sikov pulled one goal back for John Toshack’s side with a late header before substitute Artur Sarkisov rounded goalkeeper Martin Bogatinov to slot Armenia’s fourth in added time.
Armenia have outscored the opposition 11-1 in their last three games, including a 4-0 thrashing of Slovakia in Zilina last month.
Coach Vardan Minasyan singled out Yura Movsisyan, voted the man of the match, for praise after the striker set up three goals. “The whole team played extremely well but Yura was the key to our attacking display,” he said.
ARMENIA: Berezovsky, Hayrapetyan, Aleksanyan, Hovsepyan, Yuspashyan, Mkhitaryan, Mkrtchyan (Sarkisov 75), Artur Edigaryan, Pizelli (Manucharyan 63), Ghazaryan (Malakyan 83), Movsisyan. Subs not used: Petrosyan, Haroyan, Artak Edigaryan, Badoyan. Booked: Mkrtchyan.
FYR MACEDONIA: Bogatinov, Sikov, Popov, Noveski, Georgievski (Lazarevski 51), Sumulikoski, Demiri, Muarem (Gjurovski 46),Trickovski, Filip Ivanovski (Mitreski 60), Mirko Ivanovski. Subs not used: Pacovski, Grozdanovski, Mojsov, Lazevski. Booked: Popov, Mirko Ivanovski, Sumulikoski.
Referee: R Schorgenhofer (Austria).
