There is still a small chance that Ireland can snatch an implausible World Cup qualification, but playing like this, do we really even want to?
Heimir Hallgrímsson persisted with the 5-4-1 formation he had used in Lisbon – but was the system that nearly worked in a backs-to-the-wall survival job away to Portugal necessarily the right choice for a must-win home game against Armenia?
After 10 minutes it certainly didn’t look like it, as Armenia strutted around the pitch with their tails up, spraying it about, like a dominant skunk. But it was Ireland who were stinking the place out.
The talismanic Séamus Coleman took a boot in the face after two minutes as he went in bravely for a header and played much of the first half with cotton wadding stuffed up his nose. The many lengthy stoppages were the most memorable thing about the first half – Dara O’Shea, Finn Azaz and Tighran Barseghyan all needing treatment.
Azaz had caught Barseghyan on the
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