Austria fights to beat Northern Ireland

The Austrian team is still on its way to victory. In the penultimate match of the Nations League on Sunday night at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, the ÖFB team beat Northern Ireland 2-1 after a 0-1 disadvantage to end their fifth match. consecutive international winner. Mainly responsible for this were Louis Schaub (81st) and Adrian Grbic (87th), two “Jokers” who were late and who compensated Josh Magennis (75th).

The Austrians extended their lead in Group 1 of League B to three points over the pursuers Norway despite a disappointing performance following their fourth win in the fifth match. The game of the second in Romania was canceled due to a crown case in the Norwegian field and should be verified 3-0 for the Romanians. The Norwegians are currently in a ten-day quarantine, so they are working on creating a B-Team that will compete against Austria in the “group finals” to move up to the A-League on Wednesday in Vienna. But there is also a cancellation of the game in the room.

Franco Foda relied on his better formation compared to the 3-0 test duel with Luxembourg, with goalkeeper Pavao Pervan and defender Martin Hinteregger, only two kickers left in the starting lineup. Marko Arnautovic, who traveled from China, only sat on the bench at first. From there he saw a weak performance from his teammates in the first half. The ÖFB selection did not really find a means against the massive defense of the extremely low Northern Irishmen.

Only twice did he come close to scoring a goal. After a good combination at various stations, including a cross from Alaba, Stefan Ilsanker slid just past the ball on one last attempt (ninth). Shortly before the break, a header from Gregoritsch passed him over (43.). In the middle, the home team did not have the referee on their own side. Marcel Sabitzer was hit by Alistair McCann in the penalty area, but Italian Maurizio Mariani’s whistle fell silent. There is no video referee (VAR) in the Nations League.

The Northern Irishmen, who had shifted eight positions compared to the European Championship play-off defeat against Slovakia, were mainly concerned about approaching from behind, but also came to an end due to one or another uncertainty between the hosts. Liam Boyce aimed past the far corner for the only good chance (eighth). At half-time, Foda replaced center-back Aleksandar Dragovic, who had been sent off from the last Nations League game for a yellow card, by outside Reinhold Ranftl. Ilsanker, who had suffered a cut after about half an hour, returned to the center of defense.

Grbic becomes winner of a match

Little has changed in the game’s features at the moment. The necessary ideas were still lacking, in the middle the rooms were extremely narrow, there was very little outside. Only in the last half hour did the pressure from the premises increase a bit. In his last action, a shot from Gregoritsch was deflected towards the outside net (61º). In place of the Augsburg forward, Arnautovic made his comeback from the 63rd minute. A header from Baumgartlinger went from the center to goalkeeper Michael McGovern (67th).

The door fell almost out of nowhere on the other side. After much luck with the ball, Paddy McNair was able to use his teammate Magennis, who gave Pervan no chance in the 1-1 game from close range. Andreas Ulmer had picked up the offside. Like Baumgartlinger, Salzburg had to leave the field in the 78th minute and Foda had a good hand with the inclusion of Schaub and Grbic. Three minutes later, Grbic extended a Lainer cross with his head to Schaub, who equalized when he fell. The Austrians were lucky that a slight offside was not penalized.

Grbic then became the winner of the match. After a wonderful pass from Arnautovic, which was used for the first time since November 16, 2019, the French legionnaire fired. It was his third goal in his sixth international game. For the Northern Irish, relegation to the C-League is sealed, for them it was the next setback after missing a ticket to MS during the week in a duel with Slovakia.

For the Austrians it was the fifth consecutive victory against Northern Ireland. Arnautovic, like defender Aleksandar Dragovic, played for the 86th international match, in which the two drew with Karl Koller, ranked fourth on the ÖFB’s eternal list.

Final score: Austria 2-1 Northern Ireland

Tearing: 0: 1 (74.) Magennis 1: 1 (81.) Schaub 2: 1 (87.) Grbic

Austria: Pervan – Lainer, Dragovic (46 ° Ranftl), Hinteregger, Ulmer (78 ° Grbic) – Baumgartlinger (78 ° Schaub), Ilsanker – X. Schlager, Sabitzer, Alaba – Gregoritsch (63 ° Arnautovic)

North Ireland: McGovern – McLaughlin, Ballard (83. Cathcart), Flanagan, Ferguson (36. Lewis) – Smith, McNair, McCann (83. Davis), Dallas – Boyce (62. Whyte), Washington (62. Magennis)

Yellow cards: Dragovic (suspended against Norway on Wednesday), Sabitzer and Boyce

Nations League B1: The Table