Furious Armenia player throws a bottle at the linesman during their clash against Scotland

Furious Armenia player throws a bottle at the linesman during their clash against Scotland

Armenia travelled to Hampden Park for the second game of their Nations League campaign. They went into the match having won their opener against the Republic of Ireland, sitting top of League B Group 1.

But it was a horror opening 45 minutes for the visitors, who conceded twice and saw a third Scotland goal ruled out. Anthony Ralston opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark when he delivered a thumping header at the far post from Stuart Armstrong’s cross.

https://youtu.be/g4jpoq2FIJ4

Scott McKenna doubled his side’s lead just 12 minutes later when he got in front of his marker to power in a header from John McGinn’s corner. Nottingham Forest star McKenna thought he had scored again three minutes into injury time, provoking huge controversy.

What led to an Armenian player throwing the bottle at a linesman?

McGinn took a corner short to Andy Robertson, who lifted a cross into Harry Souttar. Souttar nodded it on to McKenna who saw a header crash off the crossbar before he eventually tapped it in.

Referee Sebastian Gishamer singled for a goal, despite Armenia protesting heavily that McKenna had been offside. Gishamer and his linesman ignored those calls at first though, leaving the visitors furious.

Left-back Arman Hovhannisyan was left so angry that he picked up a bottle from behind the pitch and launched it in the direction of the linesman. Luckily, the official was already running back towards the halfway line, with the bottle missing him.

Armenia linesan

Despite the clear video evidence of Hovhannisyan throwing the bottle, the Video Assistant Referee did not bring it to Gishamer’s attention. Ironically, the VAR did overrule Gishamer on the decision to award McKenna’s second goal. They ruled that the defender had drifted into an offside position when he put his first header off the bar, ruling it out.

Hovhannisyan would stay on the pitch for the rest of the game, in what was his eighth cap at the senior international level. The 28-year-old is currently a free agent after leaving Armenian Premier League side Pyunik Yerevan in May.

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