The World Cup opening qualifier was a case of the good, the bad and the very ugly \u2013 those opening 15 minutes enough to frighten the bravest of souls as the visitors hit a quickfire double.<\/p>\n
Afterwards, Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson suggested that Ireland\u2019s slow starts were perhaps a psychological issue.<\/a><\/p>\n “In my opinion, more psychological than lack of quality. Like I said, we need to address that,” he said.<\/p>\n “I accept that maybe it’s something in my preparation or how we talk before the game. But it looks like we are losing too many duels in tough situations.”<\/p>\n Slow starts have been a trend in Hallgrimsson\u2019s 10 games in charge.<\/p>\n Four times now – Hungary, England, Finland and Bulgaria – the side have fallen behind inside 20 minutes. Bulgaria also hit the front after half an hour in their Nations League play-off second leg in March.<\/p>\n Worryingly, Armenia have scored inside 10 minutes in two of their last three games – Eduard Spertsyan scoring inside the first minute in June\u2019s friendly draw with Montenegro.<\/p>\n One goal may decide it<\/p>\n The Republic of Ireland and Armenia have met four times and all four have been decided by one-goal margins.<\/p>\n Keith Fahey\u2019s first international goal back in a Euro 2012 qualifier also was the first competitive Irish goal scored against Armenia, with Valeri Aleksanyan scoring a comedy own goal and Richard Dunne bundling home to secure a 2-1 win back in Dublin with a play-off place on the line.<\/p>\n Armenia filed an official protest to UEFA after the game following the 26th-minute sending off of goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky for an alleged deliberate handball outside the box. In a post-VAR world, he’d have been able to play on.<\/p>\n “We\u2019re not going to qualify, no chance,” Eamon Dunphy confidently predicted on RT\u00c9 afterwards, but he maybe should have waited until the draw, when Estonia came out of the hat.<\/p>\n A pair of 2022 Nations League encounters brought a pair of home wins, 1-0 in Armenia, with that man Spertsyan on target, while Stephen Kenny\u2019s side won 3-2 at the Aviva in a madcap game where the hosts needed a last-gasp Robbie Brady strike to avoid red faces against a visiting side that finished with nine men.<\/p>\n GOAL Rep of Ireland 3-2 Armenia \ud83d\udcfaWatch https:\/\/t.co\/1CdVcPa1jr<\/a> \u2014 RT\u00c9 Soccer (@RTEsoccer) September 27, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n Green faces to match the jerseys?<\/p>\n Dublin to Yerevan is 4,000 kilometres, plus change, so it\u2019s clear that much of the pre-match preparations will surround having the players – Josh Honohan included<\/a> after being called up for the injured Sammie Szmodics \u2013 physically ready to get to the pitch of the game. After all, scientific research shows that jet-lag can be more extreme when flying east and it’s a very tight turnaround from Saturday’s clash with Hungary.<\/p>\n Ireland\u2019s preparations have already been hit by being forced to train away from the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium as a recent Jennifer Lopez concert damaged the pitch. It\u2019s been alleged that J-Lo\u2019s food budget for the two days was \u20ac31,000, certainly enough there to ensure you’re fit to ‘Play\u2019.<\/p>\n The grass has been relaid before the game but it\u2019s still something Dara O\u2019Shea alluded to<\/a> when saying: “Maybe the pitch isn\u2019t going to be as good as our pitch, but these are all things that we have been used to.”<\/p>\n Armenia on the slide<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a bit of a baptism of fire for new Armenia manager Yeghishe Melikyan.<\/p>\n He\u2019s just in the job over a month and he had little or no time to prepare for the visit of Portugal at the weekend, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice in a 5-0 win.<\/a><\/p>\n Conceding goals has been a major problem for the side. Over their last 10 games, a run that has yielded just a single win (a 2-1 victory over Latvia), they have ben breached 29 times.<\/p>\n Over the last year they have fallen outside the top 100 in the world rankings.<\/p>\n In February, John van ‘t Schip took over after a difficult spell with Dutch club Ajax, but his time came to an end in August after four losses from four games.<\/p>\n Spertsyan, who has scored two of his nine international goals against Ireland, will be a threat while the experienced Tigran Barseghyan is another player that will need watching.<\/p>\n Henrikh Mkhitaryan, formerly of Manchester United and Arsenal, is long retired despite still starting for Inter Milan in Serie A. He\u2019s indicated that he will hang up the boots for good when his Inter contract comes to an end next year, so there\u2019s no chance of him returning from the wilderness for international duty. He’ll just have to cross paths with Roma’s Evan Ferguson in Italy instead.<\/p>\n Youngster Grant-Leon Ranos has a dozen Bundesliga appearances under his belt already, albeit this season he is on loan with Bundesliga 2 side Kaiserslautern from Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach, and looked decent in a cameo against Portugal. It would not be a shock to see him start.<\/p>\n We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n Watch Armenia v Republic of Ireland vin World Cup qualifying on Tuesday from 4.30pm on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie\/sport and the RT\u00c9 News app. Listen to live radio commentary on Radio 1 Extra from 4.55pm.<\/p>\n ![\"Ireland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0023233f-614.jpg\"\/)
\nHeimir Hallgrimsson’s side have been conceding early goals under his watch<\/p>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/00232340-614.jpg\"\/)
\nKeith Fahey (R) is congratulated after scoring Ireland’s first competitive goal against Armenia<\/p>\n
90+1′ Robbie Brady comes to the Irish rescue in injury-team as Stephen Kenny’s side snatch a dramatic win
#IRLARM<\/a> #COYBIG<\/a> #NationsLeague<\/a><\/p>\n
\ud83d\udcfbListen https:\/\/t.co\/dVJTUVZrzC<\/a>
\ud83d\udcf1 Updates https:\/\/t.co\/ngsO13w1Ii<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/OwJXf3bAAt<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Cristiano](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0023218f-614.jpg\"\/)
\nPortugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice against Armenia on Saturday<\/p>\n