POLES AXE ARMENIA
Australian FourFourTwo, Australia
March 29 2007
Poland 1 Armenia 0
Poland extended their lead at the top of Group A despite making hard
work of a poor Armenia side.
A home win always seemed the most likely result with top playing
bottom and the gulf in class told in the 26th minute when man-of-
the-match Maciej Zurawski scored the decisive goal to give the Poles
a five-point lead after Portugal’s draw with Serbia.
The striker looked lively from the off and tested Roman Berezovsky
within three minutes with a right-footed effort from 12 yards.
Soon after Poland defender Dariusz Dudka was inches away from giving
the home side the lead when he headed Lukasz Gargula’s eighth-minute
corner over the bar.
Armenia took 21 minutes to call Polish number one Artur Boruc into
action, but the Celtic goalkeeper had little trouble taking Levon
Pachajyan’s inswinging corner from the left.
Boruc’s Hoops team-mate Zurawski continued to look a danger and was
again denied by Berezovsky with a vicious right-footer from the edge
of the area.
But soon the Celtic striker got the goal his efforts deserved when he
coolly steered Michal Zewlakow left-wing cross into the bottom-right
corner from 12 yards.
It was Zurawski who continued to take the game to the Armenians and
twice in the space of a minute he almost registered his second of
the game.
First Berezovsky came to the rescue with a smart save to deny the
striker from 20 yards before Armenian defender Karen Dokhoyan did
well to get in the way of his effort from similar range.
Berezovsky continued to be the busiest player on the field and
in the 40th minute he was again called into action to deny Jakub
Blaszczykowski’s shot from the left channel.
Pachajyan registered a shot for the home side in the 51st minute
but his 30-yard strike was always rising and finished well above
the crossbar.
But it was the Poles who always looked the more likely to double
the advantage.
Przemyslaw Kazmierczak’s well struck shot was just over Berezovsky’s
bar and a minute later Blaszczykowski’s fierce drive from 20 yards
fizzed just wide of the left post.