Wales left hoping for Euro 2024 help after scraping draw in Armenia

At the start of this international break Wales found themselves in a rather appetising position, having wrestled automatic qualification back into their own hands. They knew victories against Armenia and Turkey would guarantee their spot at Euro 2024. Surely there was a catch somewhere? This awkward trip to Armenia or Tuesday’s home tie against Turkey, safely qualified?

Well, it turns out Wales have a new bogey team in Armenia, a country ranked 95th in the world, and here they had to settle for a frustrating draw that all but ends their hopes of avoiding the playoffs. Wales fell behind early but after recovering they should have been punished by Lucas Zelarayan, who opened the scoring, and by the end Wales were hanging on.

Armenia’s best chance to clinch victory arrived on the hour when Zelarayan skied his rebound after Vahan Bichakhchyan cracked a shot against the upright, goalkeeper Danny Ward beaten. It is fair to say Wales’s mood after five minutes, when Zelarayan put Armenia in front, was in sharp contrast with their emotions two minutes into first-half stoppage time when Wales replied courtesy of an own goal from Nair Tiknizyan.

Wales were backed by 1,200 supporters, though some settled on more convoluted journeys than others with itineraries including stopovers in Cyprus, Greece and Moldova. Rob Page told how some of them enjoyed sussing out the bar at the Wales team hotel near Victory Park, home to the statue of Mother Armenia that looms over the city, and so on arrival the visiting fans were determined to make themselves heard. Perhaps a little too loudly, with 32 fans arrested by police for disturbances on the eve of the game.

Wales’s leveller proved timely. Roberts flung a long throw towards the front post and under pressure from Joe Rodon the Armenia full-back Tiknizyan inadvertently headed past his goalkeeper, Ognjen Chancharevich. It was an equaliser that gave Wales a much-needed boost after Zelarayan’s powerful early strike.

Zelarayan scored twice when Armenia shocked Wales 4-2 in Cardiff in June and he continued in that form, driving inside before potting the ball low into the corner past Ward after Joe Rodon failed to deal with an early corner.

Armenia fans let off flares at the game in Yerevan. Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA

The home crowd invariably responded and suddenly a row of flares lit up the stand opposite the dugouts. The soundtrack? The odd smoke bomb, the cause of the cloudy haze that engulfed the players. Page, arms folded on the edge of his technical area, cut a lonely figure.

It gave Wales a jolt and a few minutes later David Brooks swooshed a shot over. Neco Williams saw a shot deflected wide and from the subsequent corner Armenia survived a goalmouth scramble. Wales knitted together a couple of neat moves, none more so than when Brooks located Williams and then Harry Wilson forced Chancharevich to tip his shot round a post.

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The Tottenham forward Brennan Johnson entered five minutes into the second half and Wales introduced more pace when Dan James replaced Wilson midway through the second period. Neither truly got into the game but Page could not be criticised for not going for broke.

With 78 minutes gone, Nathan Broadhead, the Ipswich striker, replaced Roberts, a wing-back. But Wales had to survive some hairy moments and a point was probably generous.