Dominant Greece beats Armenia through a Limnios goal
Dimitris Limnios’ debut goal for Greece gave the national team a 1-0 win at Armenia on Friday for the Euro 2020 qualifiers, to lift it up to third in its pool, albeit without any hopes of qualifying.
The Greek team is left seven points behind second-placed Finland with one game to play, but its improved picture in Yerevan and the second consecutive victory under Dutch coach John van’t Schip offered fans some promise ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
The Greeks dominated play from kick-off, hitting the woodwork with Petros Mantalos early on and threatening the Armenia goal time and again, until a team effort on the 34th minute saw Tasos Bakasetas and Dimitris Yiannoulis play one-two, with Yiannoulis then feeding Limnios. The PAOK winger evaded his marker and placed the ball next to the post, for Greece’s deserved lead in the game.
Yiannoulis should have also been awarded a penalty a few minutes earlier when he got tripped just inside the box, but the referee deemed his fall on the ground was playacting and booked him.
In the second half the Greeks dropped a gear but remained threatening on the counter, with substitute Giorgos Masouras missing a glorious chance to score having the goal at his mercy 11 minutes from the end.
Greece therefore scored its third win in this campaign to reach up to 11 points, leapfrogging over Armenia and Bosnia into third. On Monday Greece hosts Finland for its last match in the group.
