Nations league: ÖFB team goes down in Norway

Haaland had to wait a long time for a chance, but as a world star does, he took advantage of it. Initially, his shot in a duel with Stefan Posch was ruled offside, but after a two-minute wait, the video images showed that “joker” Leopold Querfeld had just cancelled out the offside.

It was fitting for a difficult evening for the ÖFB team, which in the first half was just playing catch-up in a 4-2-2-2 formation that had not been used for a while, before returning to a 4-2-3-1 and then taking control of the game. After the break, the Norwegians had the better end of the match and also punished Austria’s passivity to some extent. Norway’s team manager Stale Solbakken has thus saved his job for the time being, but the ÖFB team has a lot of work to do before October.

After two games, the team of team manager Ralf Rangnick is still without a win and is third in Group B3 behind Slovenia (four points after a 3-0 win against Kazakhstan) and Norway (four). The first two home games continue, with outsiders Kazakhstan (October 10) and Norway (October 13) visiting Linz.

Reunion with the world star

In their second away game, the Austrians also faced a former Salzburg striker as the outstanding player for their opponents. While Slovenia’s Benjamin Sesko is yet to make the jump to one of the really big clubs, Erling Haaland has shot himself to the top of the world with a flood of goals. Two numbers say more than a thousand words: 97 goals in 102 games for Manchester City.

In Salzburg, 29 in 27 led to a move to Dortmund, where another 86 in 89 followed, to follow in the footsteps of his father Alfie and move to City. Haaland also has a remarkable record in the Norwegian national team (32 in 34), but there was still unrest in the team. Despite Haaland and Martin Ödegaard (Arsenal) and Alexander Sörloth (Atletico Madrid), the Norwegians did not qualify for the European Championship, and a 0-0 draw in Kazakhstan recently put coach Solbakken under additional pressure. The untapped potential is causing criticism.

Experiment goes wrong

Both team bosses opted for different formations compared to the opening draw. Rangnick brought in two new players compared to the 1:1 draw in Slovenia, and Christoph Baumgartner, who was not yet fully fit, was preferred to Marko Arnautovic in attack – alongside Patrick Wimmer. “His speed was his advantage,” said the team boss in an ORF interview. Maximilian Wöber has problems with his knee, so Philipp Lienhart defended in his place in the center.

Rangnick opted for a 4-2-2-2 and the two attackers Wimmer and Baumgartner, Sabitzer moved into the centre next to Nicolas Seiwald, Konrad Laimer to their side. In short: the experiment was a failure. The Norwegians, who had switched from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2, profited with high balls. At the kick-off for the visitors, Haaland joked with Baumgartner and hinted where the world record holder’s path would lead, but after Wimmer’s first shot on goal – a harmless roller (6th) – the Austrians stopped laughing, because Norway was coming on dangerously.

First, Haaland didn’t get to the ball well after a cross from Ödegaard, which Prass (as so often in the first half hour) looked bad at (7th). Two minutes later, Sörloth first let Seiwald slip past, then Prass get out and served Myhre, who had just joined the formation. He had time and thought carefully about where the ball should go – from the sixteen-yard box into the right corner (9th).

Austria changes and balances

It continued in this vein at first, Austria just kept running after the ball and nothing made sense. Sörloth did not punish this at first, but played the ball into the hands of goalkeeper Patrick Pentz. After a header collision between two Norwegians, which resulted in several treatment breaks, Rangnick discussed things with his key players and successfully switched to a 4-2-3-1. After around half an hour, the Austrians came dangerously close to the opponent’s goal for the first time, the deflected cross from Prass reached Philipp Mwene, who narrowly missed from distance (29′).

Three minutes later, however, the Austrians found a gap in the middle for the first time with their now more fluid combination play, but Sabitzer missed while lying on his back (32′). Five minutes later, the Dortmund legionnaire did better: via Wimmer and Baumgartner, the ball came to Sabitzer on the left half, who scored through Örjan Nyland’s legs to make it 1:1 (37′) – a deserved half-time score.

Norway wants the victory more

After the break, Austria underlined its ambition to completely turn the game around. When the home team kicked off, Sabitzer shot after just 40 seconds, but Nyland was able to save the ball on the rebound. After that, the Norwegians were back in the game and almost scored after Baumgartner lost the ball, but Ödegaard narrowly missed in the penalty area (50′).

The Norwegians kept pushing, and Mwene was evading a second yellow card after another foul. That’s why Rangnick took him off the pitch, Posch moved to the right, and Querfeld came into the centre. After that, the game developed into a knife-edge affair with the Norwegians gaining more and more advantages, with Ödegaard twisting his ankle and having to leave the field injured. But Norway wanted the win more, and Leipzig’s “joker” Antonio Nusa in particular tried to secure it. But he failed from a tight angle against Pentz (73′).

Haaland takes advantage of only chance

After Seidl came on for Baumgartner, Rangnick brought on Arnautovic and Kevin Stöger as fresh attacking players, but four minutes later it was Norway who were celebrating. After the ball was initially cleared, it came back to Haaland, who did not hesitate to score under pressure from Posch (80′).

At first Haaland himself suspected that he was offside. The assistant agreed with him, but after two minutes of waiting and checking the goal, the goal was awarded. Querfeld’s heel was at the same height. In the finish, the Austrians threw everything forward again, but nothing else worked on an overall botched evening in Oslo. Laimer failed with a shot that Nyland parried. Austria needs to improve in October.

Voices about the game:

Ralf Rangnick (ÖFB team manager): “The basic idea is clear. We wanted to get going and attack early. But we had problems with the many long balls in the first 20 minutes. After that, after the change, we had our best phase. We were on the verge of taking the lead. In the second half, the Norwegians had a bit too much possession for my liking. It was a balanced game, with a lot pointing towards a draw.”

On Erling Haaland’s decisive goal: “You can give offside, but you can also give a goal. The VAR then saw Leo Querfeld’s heel further back. It’s all no use, we lost. Now we have to make sure we win the next home games, then everything is still possible.”

Stale Solbakken (Norway team manager): “We started very well. Then we survived until half-time. They didn’t create any chances, but they were much more dangerous than in the first 20 minutes. The win was very well deserved. We were the better team, controlled the game, and they only had one chance overall. We played against a very good team with good structure and intensity. I’m very proud of the boys.”

UEFA Nations League, League B, Group 3, Second Round

Montag:

Norway – Austria 2:1 (1:1)

Oslo, Ullevaal Stadium, 23.171, SR Dabanovic (MNE)

Goal sequence:
1:0 Myhre (9th)
1:1 Sabitzer (37.)
2:1 Haaland (80th)

Norway: Nyland – Ryerson, Hanche-Olsen (28./Gundersen), Östigard, Möller Wolfe – Ödegaard (67. Thorstvedt), Berge, Berg (46. Thorsby), Myhre (46. Nusa) – Haaland, Sörloth (96./Langas )

Austria: Pentz – Mwene (57./Querfeld), Posch, Lienhart, Prass – Seiwald, Sabitzer – Schmid (78./Arnautovic), Laimer – Baumgartner (68./Seidl), Wimmer (78. Stöger)

Yellow cards: none or Mwene