Wales slump to a shock 4-2 home defeat by Armenia despite goals by Daniel James and Harry Wilson… as Kieffer Moore is sent off on poor night for the hosts
- Daniel James opened scoring but Lucas Zelarayan got Armenia on level terms
- Grant-Leon Ranos scored twice but Harry Wilson put Wales in touching distance
- However, Zelarayan scored again and Kieffer Moore was shown a red card
You can celebrate your fabulous fans, stirring songs and spine-tingling atmosphere all you like, but none of those things matter very much if you are hopeless when the actual football starts.
In front of the Red Wall that is among the greatest support on the planet, 10-man Wales stank the place out against lowly Armenia, who are ranked 97th in the world. Kieffer Moore was sent off late on and it was no surprise to hear some boos at full-time.
They wasted a fine opportunity to take charge of their qualifying group, with Croatia on Nations League duty. A defensive performance as poor as this will be duly punished by Turkey in Samsun on Monday.
Boss Rob Page will hold talks with his players today ahead of the trip and he admitted: ‘We had a slap tonight – a reality check – and perhaps it’s the slap we need.
‘I didn’t see that coming. It shocked me. They taught us a lesson in how to do the not so pretty side of the game.’
Wales suffered a shock 4-2 defeat by Armenia to dent their hopes of qualifying for the Euros
Wales captain Aaron Ramsey (right) and Joe Rodon look dejected after their shock loss on Friday night
Lucas Zelarayan (right) scored twice on a memorable night for Armenia in Cardiff
Bayern Munich youngster Grant-Leon Ranos also scored a brace at the Cardiff City stadium
From the early exchanges it had looked as though this would be a routine evening. Moore was dominant in the air and had already missed two opportunities by the time Daniel James put Wales in front.
MATCH FACTS AND RATINGS
Wales (4-2-3-1): Ward 5.5; Roberts 4.5, Mepham 4, Rodon 4 (Williams 67, 6), B Davies 5; Ramsey 5 (Morrell 67, 4.5), Ampadu 6; Johnson 6 (Brooks 70, 6), Wilson 6, James 6; Moore 4. Subs not used: Hennessey, A Davies, Fox, Harris, James, Cabango, Bradshaw, Cullen, Broadhead.
Scorers: James 10, Wilson 72
Sent off: Moore
Booked: Mepham, Williams
Manager: Rob Page 4
Armenia (3-4-2-1): Chancharevich 5; Calisir 5 (Haroyan 62, 6), Arutiunian 5, Mkrtchyan 5; Dashyan 7, Iwu 6.5, Spertsyan 7.5, Tiknizyan 7; Barseghyan 6.5 (Bichakhchyan 62, 6), Zelarayan 7.5 (Briasco 75, 6); Ranos 8 (Serobyan 88). Subs not used: Buchnev, Beglaryan, Shaghoyan, Davidyan, Margaryan, Harutyunyan, Wbeymar, Piloyan.
Scorers: Zelarayan 19, 75, Ranos 30, 66
Booked: Ranos, Tiknizyan, Chancharevich, Mkrtchyan
Manager: Oleksandr Petrakov 7.5
Referee: Georgi Kabakov 5
Attendance: 32,774
At that point, nobody had reckoned on Armenia fighting back, yet they led at half-time thanks to goals from Lucas Zelarayan and Grant-Leon Ranos.
Ranos, 19, learned his trade at Bayern Munich and added his second soon after an hour. Though Harry Wilson halved the deficit shortly after, Zelarayan rapidly doubled his own tally to make it four —moments after Ranos had hit the bar.
Wales’ misery was complete when Moore was shown a straight red card for appearing to kick out at goalkeeper Ognjen Chancharevich, whose ludicrous antics sealed Moore’s fate.
With four points from two games, Wales arrived here in buoyant mood. Page praised their strength in depth said their woe at the World Cup — where Wales did not win a game — was firmly in the past.
Yet what Wales served up here was as grim as anything they produced in Qatar. They might not have England’s depth of talent, but every member of their starting XI has played in one of Europe’s top-five leagues.
Their world ranking of 26th is about right and should have been more than enough to despatch a team 71 spots below them. It seemed as though Armenia would be overwhelmed when Brennan’s Johnson’s low cross was turned in by James.
But Armenia equalised with a superb volley from Zelarayan in the 19th minute and matters became even worse for Wales on the half-hour mark as unmarked Ranos guided a deft header beyond Danny Ward.
Remarkably, it got even worse for Wales after 66 minutes. Chris Mepham failed to spot Ranos’ dummy, allowing the forward to collect the pass from Zelarayan and shoot beyond Ward.
Wales got one back when Wilson stabbed home Moore’s knockdown. Five minutes later Moore was sent off for violent conduct before Armenia wrapped up the win. Joe Morrell was robbed near his goal by Ugochukwu Iwu and he slipped in Zelarayan, who did the rest from 15 yard.
The night started brightly for Rob Page’s Wales when Daniel James put them ahead early on
Kieffer Moore was shown a straight red card for appearing to kick out at Armenia’s goalkeeper
Source: Read Full Article
