Armenia 1-3 Italy
It’s not a surprise that few teams are competing for a second place in a Group J. Italy already secured first spot and place in Euro 2020, but on the other hand, Greece, Finland, Bosnia, and Armenia all have the same chance to qualify for Euro 2020.
According to Armenian journalists, the team was devastated after a loss. It was a mental issue that Armenians could not deal with. Keep in mind that Armenia opened a score in the game and could not keep up with game. Finally, Armenia conceded three goals and lost a serious chance to secure the second spot.
1st Half of the game
Italy was sharp from the opening minutes but could not score a goal in 10 minutes. Italians could not play correctly during a counter-attack, and on 11th minute Armenians scored. Karapetian scored a goal and stadium cheered louder.
After the first goal, Armenians believed in their abilities and had many counter attacks which were very dangerous for Italy. Finally, the Italians have shown their class, and on the 28th minute Belotti scored a goal making 1-1. At the end of the first half, referee saw an apparent fault and Karapetian got the red card. The player scored a goal and left the stadium with a red card in just 45 minutes.
2nd Half of the game
Second half was very intensive. Both teams needed three points, so it was clear that character of match became faster than in 1st Half. Before Italy scored a second goal, Armenians had two-three dangerous moments but could not convert any of those shots. Finally, the class of Italian players had a significant influence on the result. In three minutes period Italy scored twice and secured a win.
After the match, Mancini was happy with his players but mentioned that Armenia was a rough team. As it seems, Italians knew that Armenia was not an easy trip.
Other games of Group J
Finland and Greece had a very intensive match. Penalty decided the result and Finland won the game, 1-0. Keep in mind that Finland has 12 points meanwhile Greece stays on 5th position with only 4 points.
Bosnia just gave a knock down the match to Liechtenstein. Players of Bosnia scored five goals and conceded 0 during the game yesterday. The Bosnia entirely dominated Liechtenstein and won the game without any question. As of now, Bosnia has a serious chance to fight for the second position. There is still 5 points gap between third and second position teams, but there are still five rounds to go.