Sporting Life
Oct 10 2004
Finland 3 Armenia 1
Finland dismissed Armenia for the second time in just over a month
with a hard-fought win in Tampere.
First half goals from Shefki Kuqi and Aleksei Eremenko had put the
Finns in control before Armen Shahgeldyan’s deflected shot set up a
tense second half.
But a late second from Kuqi secured all three points to put Finland
level on points with Romania at the top of Group One.
The victory follows Finland’s 2-0 win in Yerevan last month, and the
hosts got out of the traps even more quickly on this occasion, going
1-0 up after only eight minutes.
Aleksei Eremenko’s shot from just inside the area took a deflection,
and Kuqi proved quickest to the rebound, slotting the ball past Armen
Hambartsumyan from point blank range.
Armenia responded with a Andrei Movsesyan volley from the edge of the
area forcing a great save from Antti Niemi.
But Finland doubled their lead just before the half-hour when
Eremenko struck a brilliant free-kick past Armen Ambartsumyan.
The two-goal advantage lasted only four minutes, however, as Armenia
pulled a goal back when Armen Shakhgeldjan’s free-kick from the edge
of the box glanced off Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia, giving Niemi
no chance.
A cagey second half almost came to life after 75 minutes but Joonas
Kolkka’s header only found the side-netting.
However, with only three minutes left, Finland did restore the
two-goal cushion when Kuqi rifled home from fully 20 yards to make
absolutely sure of the points.
Teams:
Finland Niemi, Pasanen, Saarinen (Kallio 69), Hyypia, Vayrynen,
Nurmela, Kolkka (Johansson 84), Kuivasto (Tainio 46), Riihilahti,
Kuqi, Eremenko Jr.
Subs Not Used: Jaaskelainen, Pohja, Multaharju, Lagerblom.
Booked: Vayrynen.
Goals: Kuqi 9, Eremenko Jr 28, Kuqi 88.
Armenia Hambardzumian, Dokhoyan, Hovsepyan, Vardanian, Khachatrian
(Aleksanian 37), Nazarian, Mkhitarian, Shahgeldyan, Movsisian,
Grigorian (Manucharian 61), Tadevosian.
Subs Not Used: Gasparyan, Melikian, Galust Petrosian, Mkrtchian,
Hakobian.
Booked: Movsisian, Hovsepyan.
Goals: Shahgeldyan 32.
Att: 10,000
Ref: Herbert Fandel (Germany).
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress