Northern Ireland 1-2 Austria

PRESSEYE
Author: Alex KeeryPublished 18th Nov 2018
Last updated 18th Nov 2018

Northern Ireland ended their Nations League campaign with a 2-1 defeat at home to Austria, who scored their second in added time.

Valentino Lazaro curled the winner in the top corner to cancel out Corry Evan's equalising goal which came after Xaver Schalger's opener.

Prior to kick-off, the home side had already been relegated from League B, while the Austrians couldn't move from 2nd place, as Bosnia-Herzegovina had already won Group 3.

With virtually nothing to play for, the first half passed by almost utterly devoid of chances. Corry Evans saw a 6th minute effort take a few deflections before being palmed over the bar, while David Alaba put a free kick over for Austria with 13 minutes played.

The visitors eventually opened the scoring with their first shot on target which finally came in the 49th minute. The ball dropped for Schlager and he swept home a first time finish with his left foot from the edge of the box.

The Northern Irish reply came 8 minutes later through Corry Evans. The midfielder burst forward to collect a Jordan Jones pass, before finishing via a deflection off Austrian defender Hinteregger.

With 73 on the clock, substitute Marko Arnatuovic combined well with Alaba, but the Bayern Munich midfielder fired over the bar, and George Savile then volleyed narrowly wide after teeing himself up on the edge of the box.

The game appeared to be heading toward a draw, but in the 92nd minute, Alaba and Arnautovic combined to release Lazaro to bag the winner.