Armenia v Wales LIVE: Result and reaction from crucial Euro 2024 qualifier as Wales suffer huge blow with draw
Armenia 1-1 Wales: Euro 2024 qualification is taken out of Wales’s hands as they fail to find a winner in Yerevan
Wales suffered a huge blow in their penultimate Euro 2024 qualifier against Armenia, as a 1-1 draw in Yerevan took automatic qualification for the tournament out of their hands.
Rob Page’s side remain in the second automatic qualifying spot in Group D but will be leapfrogged by Croatia if they beat Latvia later this evening and if the Croats then do likewise against the Armenian on Tuesday they won’t be able to be caught by Wales, regardless of the result against Turkey in Cardiff at the same time.
Wales fell behind after just five minutes in Yerevan when they failed to clear a corner and Lucas Zelarayan brilliantly fired past Danny Ward but the visitors steadily gained a foothold and deservedly equalised in first-half injury time when Nair Tiknizyan headed into his own goal under pressure from Joe Rodon at a corner.
Yet the Dragons couldn’t find a winner in the second half and were fortunate not to lose the match as Vahan Bichakhchyan struck the underside of the bar and Ward made a couple of important saves with Armenia looking the side more likely to score. The dropped points now likely consign Wales to a play-off if they want to reach a third straight men’s European Championship finals.
Relive all the action with our live blog below:
Armenia 1-1 Wales - Brennan Johnson comes on
49 mins: The answer to the first of those questions is right now, apparently. Brennan Johnson comes on for David Brooks - what can the Spurs man do?
Presumably Brooks has a slight niggle, otherwise giving him just four minutes of the second half seems bizarre. You’d make the change at the interval
Armenia 1-1 Wales
48 mins: Wales had the better of things in the first half, especially after the surprise early goal they conceded, and they start the second half in good fashion. Some nice passing, waiting for space to open up.
It could be a game of patience for the Welsh and it will be fascinating to see when Rob Page deploys Brennan Johnson and Dan James off the bench.
KICK-OFF! Armenia 1-1 Wales
Back underway in Yerevan. Wales hunting a second goal and a vital win. Remember, a draw would take qualification for Euro 2024 out of their hands but a victory leaves them just three points away from booking a spot.
HALF-TIME! Armenia 1-1 Wales
Here are the goals from the first half in Yerevan
HALF-TIME! Armenia 1-1 Wales
HALF-TIME! Armenia 1-1 Wales
What a time to score for Wales as the half-time whistle goes almost immediately afterwards. They’re good value for that equaliser and will be the happier team as they head for the interval oranges.
They were caught out by Zelarayan’s early goal from an uncleared corner but Tiknizyan putting through his own net in injury time levels things up
GOAL! Armenia 1-1 Wales (Own goal Nair Tiknizyan, 45+2 mins)
45+2 mins: THEY WON’T GO IN ONE BEHIND THOUGH! A goal right on the stroke of half-time.
A corner into the box from the right, Joe Rodon leaps with Nair Tiknizyan and the ball comes off the head of the Armenia defender before looping into the net.
They deserve that equaliser and a great time to get it.
Armenia 1-0 Wales
45 mins: Brooks not happy after being called for a foul on Calisir for pushing him in the back. Not sure the Welshman has much of a case there.
3 minutes of added time to come. Wales looks as if they’ll be going into the break a goal down.
Armenia 1-0 Wales
44 mins: Moore gets into the right channel, beyond his man but there is no support in the box to try to get on the end of his subsequent cross.
Wales do win a throw-in and Connor Roberts hurls it long into the box but Armenia scramble clear.
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