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Armenia bring Poles down to earth
Wednesday 6 June 2007
Poland's hopes of reaching their first UEFA European
Championship finals received an unexpected blow as
they suffered a 1-0 defeat in Armenia.
Memorable week
The Group A leaders went into the game seeking a
seventh successive victory yet they were far from
their best against Ian Porterfield's side and could
find no answer to Hamlet Mkhitaryan's second-half
free-kick. For Armenia and their jubilant fans, it
completed a memorable week following their first win
in the section last Saturday, 2-1 in Kazakhstan.
Missed chances
After a slow start at the Republican stadium, the
match came to life with a flurry of chances midway
through the first half. After Armenia's Robert
Arzumanyan had headed past the far post from a corner,
Poland responded and Marek Saganowski was the first to
force Gevorg Kasparov into action, the home keeper
saving well as Saganowski slid in to connect with a
low cross. Soon afterwards Kasparov had to tip over
Jacek Krzynówek's free-kick and on the half-hour the
pressure nearly brought a goal. Wojciech £obodziñski
drove in a shot and when Kasparov could only parry the
ball, Saganowski turned the rebound wide of a gaping
goal.
Mkhitaryan strikes
Although £obodziñski flashed an attempt across goal on
57 minutes, Leo Beenhakker's team were not controlling
proceedings as expected and the game slipped away from
them when the breakthrough came on 66 minutes.
Following Jacek B¹k's foul on Aram Hakobyan some 20
metres from goal, Mkhitaryan curled his free-kick over
the Poland wall and beyond the despairing right arm of
Artur Boruc.
Plenty to ponder
Poland substitutes Jakub B³aszczykowski and Maciej
¯urawski both had efforts beaten away by Kasparov, yet
the defeat might have been even more embarrassing had
Arman Karamyan not spurned a clear opportunity in
added time. Rather than going into the summer with an
eight-point lead, Poland's result leaves them looking
suddenly vulnerable given their immediate pursuers in
Group A, Portugal and Serbia, both have two games in
hand - and Poland must still visit that pair when
qualifying resumes in the autumn.
©uefa.com 1998-2007.
Wednesday 6 June 2007
Poland's hopes of reaching their first UEFA European
Championship finals received an unexpected blow as
they suffered a 1-0 defeat in Armenia.
Memorable week
The Group A leaders went into the game seeking a
seventh successive victory yet they were far from
their best against Ian Porterfield's side and could
find no answer to Hamlet Mkhitaryan's second-half
free-kick. For Armenia and their jubilant fans, it
completed a memorable week following their first win
in the section last Saturday, 2-1 in Kazakhstan.
Missed chances
After a slow start at the Republican stadium, the
match came to life with a flurry of chances midway
through the first half. After Armenia's Robert
Arzumanyan had headed past the far post from a corner,
Poland responded and Marek Saganowski was the first to
force Gevorg Kasparov into action, the home keeper
saving well as Saganowski slid in to connect with a
low cross. Soon afterwards Kasparov had to tip over
Jacek Krzynówek's free-kick and on the half-hour the
pressure nearly brought a goal. Wojciech £obodziñski
drove in a shot and when Kasparov could only parry the
ball, Saganowski turned the rebound wide of a gaping
goal.
Mkhitaryan strikes
Although £obodziñski flashed an attempt across goal on
57 minutes, Leo Beenhakker's team were not controlling
proceedings as expected and the game slipped away from
them when the breakthrough came on 66 minutes.
Following Jacek B¹k's foul on Aram Hakobyan some 20
metres from goal, Mkhitaryan curled his free-kick over
the Poland wall and beyond the despairing right arm of
Artur Boruc.
Plenty to ponder
Poland substitutes Jakub B³aszczykowski and Maciej
¯urawski both had efforts beaten away by Kasparov, yet
the defeat might have been even more embarrassing had
Arman Karamyan not spurned a clear opportunity in
added time. Rather than going into the summer with an
eight-point lead, Poland's result leaves them looking
suddenly vulnerable given their immediate pursuers in
Group A, Portugal and Serbia, both have two games in
hand - and Poland must still visit that pair when
qualifying resumes in the autumn.
©uefa.com 1998-2007.