Armenia 1-4 Scotland: John McGinn and Che Adams were in the game as the hosts had two ejections
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The Scot celebrates after scoring
Stuart Armstrong scored a brace as Scotland overcame a difficult start to beat nine-man Armenia 4-1. Scotland fell from the start in Yerevan and had moments of worry after Armstrong’s quick equaliser.
But the midfielder scored in stoppage time in the first half, moments after Arguy Hovhannisyan committed two yellow card fouls in the five-minute area, and Scotland took credit for it. John McGinn and Che Adams got it right at the beginning of the moment. Scotland sealed six problems in their first 3 Nations League matches before the hosts sent off a man in stoppage time.
Scotland boss Steve Clarke overcame his team’s 3-0 defeat in Dublin on Saturday and 3 of his defenders failed to make the 2,500-mile adventure: skipper Andy Robertson, John Souttar and Scott McKenna. Scott McTominay re-entered the back 3 along with Grant Hanley and Jack Hendry, who covered from the left, while full-back Nathan Patterson and Greg Taylor came in with Billy Gilmour and Armstrong.
Ireland had struggled in the heat of Yerevan when they travelled to Armenia in the opening match of Group B1, but things were good for Scotland at the Republican Stadium thanks to the local start time of 8:00 p. m. m. , a breeze and a pre-downpour in shape. Armenia rarely ventured ahead in their 2-0 defeat at Hampden last week, however, they showed much more offensive ambition in the early stages and took the lead in less than six minutes.
Hanley was the favourite to win the ball, but miscalculated his challenge and fell to let Tigran Barseghyan run towards the contour line and reduce it so that Vahan Bichakhchyan finished at the first post. Gilmour had a shot temporarily deflected after a short corner kick and Scotland were tied. in the 14th minute, when Armstrong temporarily followed home after Adams missed an ambitious shot.
However, the goal did not calm Scotland, and Armenia came close to scoring twice with balls overhead, the visitors saving an offside flag and then a Hendry recovery on the ground. Craig Gordon temporarily moved away from Eduard Spertsyan and Scotland continued to look vulnerable at the back as Armenia pounced on them.
Clarke’s team started the game around 30 minutes and Adams threatened twice from distance before Patterson cut the arc long after Taylor’s low cross. The key step of the game began with Hovhannisyan’s defeated challenge over Patterson. knocked down with a header before Montenegrin referee Nikola Dabanovic sent two yellow cards and one red.
Scotland did not give the hosts time to renew themselves when Armstrong clung to McGinn’s pass into the box and beat a defender before rolling the ball back despite wasting his foot. The Scots crushed their numerical superiority after the break. McGinn turned around and fired six yards in the 50th minute after Patterson cushioned a deep center from Taylor toward him.
Five minutes later, Armstrong controlled superbly to send southampton teammate Adams on the counter-attack and the striker retreated home. Scotland may have had more. Armstrong threatened twice with his hat-trick, and Adams and Taylor forced saves.
David Turnbull, Lewis Ferguson, Anthony Ralston and Jacob Brown were eliminated and Allan Campbell made his debut as Scotland continued to dominate possession, the hosts squandered some past chances and Gordon made two smart saves in the middle of the moment.
Kamo Hovhannisyan won a straight red card after a wild challenge on Ferguson, and Campbell saw a deflected shot deflected. Scotland ended their Nations League crusade in late September with a brace against Ukraine and Ireland.
The Scot celebrates after scoring
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