SARAJEVO — Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Armenia 2-1 in European Championship 2020 Qualifiers on Saturday evening.
At the capacity Grbavica Stadium in the capital city of Sarajevo, both teams played evenly in the first 30 minutes before Rade Krunic scored for the hosts in the 33rd minute.
Armenia attempted to score in the second half, but 31-year-old goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic blocked all their three attempts. In the 80th minute, substitute Deni Milosevic was on target to double the score.
Armenia was awarded a penalty in the dying minutes as the ball hit Milosevic’s hand. Henrikh Mkhitaryan converted the spot kick but it was all too late for the visitors.
“We were close to scoring a goal when it was 1-0, but we did not succeed. We also had hopes after a penalty kick, but we had little time,” Mkhitaryan said after the match. “We did not have enough experience. In the first half, we defended more, and the second half began much better. We had more space and chances. I hope we will achieve a positive result in the game against Finland”.
In other Group J matches, Italy beat Finland 2-0 and Lichtenstein lost 2-0 at home to 2004 European champions Greece.
Armenia will face Finland in the next match that will take place in Yerevan on March 26.