SCOTLAND RALLY TO
Steve Clarke’s men bounce back from early setback to claim three points in Yerevan
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RMAN HOVVHANNIYSAN stuck the head on
John McGinn just before half time to earn himself a red card and deal a hammer blow to Armenia’s chances of beating Scotland in Yerevan last night.
But McGinn and his teammates still slapped down the critics who had put the boot into them and their manager Steve Clarke following their weekend mauling by the Republic of Ireland in some style.
A victory over opponents who are in 92nd place in the FIFA World Rankings and played the second half with just 10 men is no reason for the Tartan Army to start booking hotels in Germany for the Euro 2024 finals quite yet.
Lessons must be learned from the Nations League loss to Ireland in Dublin on Saturday and the Qatar 2022 play-off semi-final defeat to Ukraine at Hampden this month and improvements made for a place in that tournament to be secured.
Defensively, there remains much work to do. The ease with which Vahan Bichakhchyan put Armenia ahead in the sixth minute was alarming. Joaquin Caparros’ men had several chances to score thereafter.
Yet, no away win in international football is straightforward and there was much for Scotland supporters – who had booed their heroes off the park in the Aviva Stadium three days earlier – to celebrate and be encouraged by in the Group B1 match in the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium.
This emphatic and moraleboosting win ensured that Clarke’s charges ended what has been a difficult international break on a high and resurrected their chances of topping their section and clinching a Euro 2024 play-off spot.
Stuart Armstrong, who took over from Ryan Christie in midfield, doubled his tally for his country in the first half with two well-taken goals and McGinn and Che Adams, who have been far from their best this month, both netted in the second.
Clarke, who made four changes to the side that took to the field against Ireland, was delighted with Scotland’s display at the end of the 90 minutes and can look forward to their rematch with Ukraine in September with renewed confidence.
The opener was the result of a catalogue of Scotland errors. Grant Hanley should have put the ball out for a throw-in when he was attempting to halt Tigran Barseghyan wide on the touchline. But he failed to do so and his opponent jinked forward unchallenged into the penalty area.
Hanley’s fellow centrebacks Jack Hendry and Scott McTominay both, for reasons best known to themselves, stood off the midfielder who squared to Bichakhchyan in the six-yard box. His team-mate had the simplest of tasks to side foot beyond Craig Gordon.
Manchester United player McTominay was badly at fault for failing to block the near post; he looked very much like a midfielder playing out of position at centre-half.
But the visitors kept their cool and deservedly drew level just eight minutes later. Hendry picked out Adams with a chip and the striker controlled the ball and attempted an overhead kick. He miscued his effort, but Armstrong burst forward and made no mistake.
However, the equaliser did nothing to lift Scotland or deflate Armenia. Quite the opposite was the case, in fact.
Khoren Bayramyan had the ball in the net four minutes later only for Montenegrin referee Nikola Dabanovic to disallow it for offside following a VAR check. Still, the ease with which the winger got his shot away was a worry. Hendry then made a crucial clearance just as Barsegyhan was poised to shoot as he lay on the turf.
Adams has been a shadow of the player who scored against Moldova and Denmark in Qatar 2022 qualifiers this season. But he fired just wide from distance and went close to lobbing goalkeeper David Yurchenko as Scotland rallied slightly.
Then Hovvhanniysan had his moment of madness. He scythed down Nathan Patterson as the right wing-back charged upfield. McGinn squared up to the defender and made his unhappiness at the shocking challenge clear. His rival head butted him just a couple of yards away from the match official.
He could have been shown straight red cards for either incident. But Dabanovic brandished two yellows in quick succession and Armenia were reduced to 10 men. They fell behind just two minutes later following a well-worked Scotland attack.
McGregor and McGinn combined to supply Armstrong and their team-mate took two touches inside Varazdat Haroyan before rifling into the bottom right corner. It was a stunning finish which further justified his selection.
Fans’ favourite McGinn has not been his usual self in front of goal this month. He spurned gilt-edged opportunities against both Ukraine and the Republic of Ireland. But he went a long way towards atoning for those misses when he bagged the third five minutes into the second half.
Greg Taylor overlapped down the left before floating a cross in to the far post. Patterson met the delivery first time and fed McGinn inside him. The Aston Villa man controlled the pass and then spun around and despatched a half-volley into the bottom left corner.
Adams got in on the act three minutes later after being sent through on goal by Armstrong. He had much work to do when he received the ball and showed great composure to cut inside Styopa Mkrtchyan and then beat Yurchenko.
With victory assured, Clarke made a triple substitution. He took off McGinn, Patterson and Billy Gilmour and put on David Turnbull, Anthony Ralston and Lewis Ferguson respectively. Jacob Brown took over from Adams in the closing stages and Allan Campbell came on for Hanley late on.
Armenia skipper Kamo Hovvhanisyan was red-carded in the final minute for a shocking foul on Ferguson as tempers flared. But nothing could take the shine off a hugely satisfactory night for Scotland.