CZECH REPUBLIC 4 ARMENIA 1
Sportinglife.com, UK
Aug 8 2005
Czech Republic maintained the pressure on Group One leaders Holland
on Wednesday night with an emphatic defeat of Armenia in Olomouc.
The Czechs ran out comfortable winners despite a poor first-half
performance.
They picked up the tempo after the break though and cruised into
a 4-0 lead thanks to goals from Marek Heinz and Milan Baros and a
double from Jan Polak.
Ara Hakobyan grabbed a late consolation but the Czechs had already
done enough.
Without influential playmaker Tomas Rosicky through injury, the home
side struggled to find any fluency in the early stages with several
passes going astray.
They still dominated possession, Heinz forcing visiting keeper Roman
Berezovsky into an early save and Baros mis-hitting his effort from
in front of goal.
But Armenia held their own for the opening half-hour and even had
the best chance of the first period.
Hakobyan robbed Tomas Galasek on the halfway line and ran unopposed
to the Czech penalty area only for home keeper Jaromir Blazek to
block his shot with his legs.
It was a rare foray forward for Armenia and their attacking threat
dried up completely after the break with substitute Vladimir Smicer
proving dangerous down the right following his introduction.
Smicer almost made an immediate impact but Berezovsky blocked his shot
while Tomas Ujfalusi came close to giving the hosts the lead with a
clever lob which Robert Arzumanyan did well to head off his own line.
The Czechs finally made the breakthrough after 48 minutes, Heinz’s
volley deflecting off Armenia skipper Sargis Hovsepjan and into
the net.
Luck deserted the visitors again four minutes later when Berezovsky
was undone by another deflection, this time off Karen Dokhoyan,
which allowed Polak’s shot to find the net.
Baros made it 3-0 after 58 minutes, tapping in after Berezovsky saved
a Jan Koller header, and Polak capped a fine individual display by
hammering home from long range 18 minutes later.
Hakobyan netted from close range with five minutes to go.
Teams
Czech Republic: Blazek, Grygera, Polak, Galasek, Poborsky, Koller,
Skacel (Smicer 46), Baros (Jun 80), Heinz, Ujfalusi, Rozehnal
(Sivok 70).
Subs Not Used: Kinsky, Zelenka, Hubschman, Pospech.
Goals: Heinz 47, Polak 52, Baros 58, Polak 76.
Armenia: Berezovsky, Hovsepyan, Arzumanian, Dokhoyan, Tadevosian
(Melikian 64), Valeri Aleksanian, Khachatryan (Tigranyan 71),
Karen Aleksanian, Mkrtchian, Aram Hakobian (Artur Petrosian 57),
Ara Hakobian.
Subs Not Used: Kasparov, Baghdarasian, Voskanian, Voskanyan.
Booked: Tadevosian, Hovsepyan.
Goals: Ara Hakobian 86.
Att: 12,015
Ref: Martin Hansson (Holmsjo).