Armenia All But Ends Bulgaria's World Cup Hopes
Sports | October 11, 2013, Friday // 20:37| views
Photo by fifa.com
Armenia scored a dramatic 2:1 win against a nine-men Bulgaria on Friday, all but ending the visitors’ hopes for a World Cup playoff.
The decisive moment in the game came at the end of the first half, when Bulgaria defender Bodurov was sent off for a last-man tackle.
Aras Ozbiliz scored from the free-kick that ensued.
Lyuboslav Penev’s team started the second half strongly, with Stanislav Manolev missing two chances to equalize.
Kuban Krasnodar’s Ivelin Popov leveled the score from a beautiful free-kick in the 60th minute – but Bulgaria’s hopes for a win were soon dashed, as midfielder Svetoslav Dyakov was sent off for a second yellow card three minutes later.
Yura Movsisyan sealed his team’s victory with an 87th-minute strike.
Bulgaria are second in Group B on 13 points, Armenia have 12 and so do Denmark, who play Italy later on Friday, with Italy having already qualified for the World Cup.
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