Armenia's T. Barseghyan (R) vies with Kazakhstan's Sergei Maliy during their qualifying match of FIFA World Cup 2018 in Yerevan, Armenia, March 26, 2017. Armenia won 2-0. (Xinhua/Gevorg Ghazaryan)
YEREVAN, Armenia, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Armenia beat the 10-man Kazakhstan 2-0 at home on Sunday in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
Following their incredible 3-2 comeback win over Group E leaders Montenegro last November, Armenia manager Artur Petrosyan was forced to make an early substation following a third minute injury of Gevorg Ghazaryan.
The home team kept pressing the opponents in their own half of the field, but Kazakhstan maintained a clean sheet and even created one or two decent chances.
Kazakhstan's Sergiy Malyi received his second yellow on the 64th minute. It took only 9 minutes for Armenia to get the upper hand when Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored.
Just two minutes later, Aras Oezbiliz doubled the score for Armenia, which picked up its second win in the group and is now in fourth place with six points behind Poland, Montenegro and Denmark.
Armenia will face Montenegro next in June.
Armenia's Henrikh Mkhitaryan (R) vies with Kazakhstan's Sergei Maliy during their qualifying match of FIFA World Cup 2018 in Yerevan, Armenia, March 26, 2017. Armenia won 2-0. (Xinhua/Gevorg Ghazaryan)