Nations League

LIVE: Will Austria Pick Up Three Points in Ireland, Too?

Things weren’t looking good for a while, but thanks to Alex Prass and Michael Gregoritsch, the Austrian team is still heading home from Ireland with a point...(Bild: GEPA)

After two wins to start the Nations League, Austria failed to win for the first time in its third match: However, head coach Ralf Rangnick’s team showed great spirit on the road against an extremely tough Irish side and, after trailing 0–2 at one point, managed to secure a 2–2 draw!

Substitutes Alexander Prass (71') and Michael Gregoritsch (77') equalized on Thursday in front of 45,784 fans in Dublin, canceling out the lead by Ireland’s Troy Parrott (12', 45'/penalty), and thus defended their lead in Group 3 of League B. The ÖFB team’s next match is on Sunday in Prishtina against Kosovo.

Rangnick made six changes to his starting lineup compared to Sunday’s 3-1 home win against Kosovo. For example, Sasa Kalajdzic started as the lone striker, Carney Chukwuemeka in the center of the attack, and, as announced, Florian Wiegele in goal. At Aviva Stadium, the Austrians were caught off guard by the Irish team’s physical style of play in the early going, struggled to get a foothold in the match, and were particularly clumsy in conceding the first goal.

The Austrian team(Bild: GEPA)

Parrott was able to pick up speed after a long ball, made Philipp Lienhart miss a “gurkerl,” effortlessly left David Affengruber in his wake, and slotted the ball between Wiegele’s legs. Things didn’t really improve from the Austrian perspective until after a break forced by Irish fans in the 20th minute. Spectators had thrown tennis balls onto the field bearing the Palestinian flag.

Austrian National Team Performs Better After Pro-Palestine Protest
Rangnick’s instructions during the roughly three-minute interruption bore fruit—the Austrian national team looked more aggressive, earned significantly more possession, and created dangerous chances. Nicolas Seiwald shot over the goal after a pass from Kalajdzic, while attempts by Patrick Wimmer (31st minute) and Stefan Posch (32nd minute) lacked power. Shortly after another brief stoppage caused by a streaker carrying a Palestinian flag, Austria had its best chance of the match so far: Kalajdzic set up Wimmer, whose shot was saved by Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher from the near post (40').

(Bild: GEPA)

The visitors seemed closer to tying the game at this stage than the home team was to scoring a second goal, yet the score remained 2–0 shortly before halftime. Phillipp Mwene made a botched clearance attempt in his own penalty area; Seiwald struck Adam Idah on the heel, and Dutch referee Allard Lindhout awarded a penalty—Betis Sevilla’s Parrott confidently converted it off the inside post.

Rangnick reacted at halftime with a triple substitution. Gregoritsch, Konrad Laimer—who took over the captain’s armband from Xaver Schlager—and Maximilian Wöber came on for Chukwuemeka, Seiwald, and Affengruber. The Austrians fought tenaciously for a comeback, but there were few truly dangerous moments at first—such as when a pass from Schlager into the penalty area rolled past Gregoritsch (53'). A long-range shot by Laimer posed no problem for Kelleher (70').

Prass put the Austrian national team back in the game
A few seconds later, the Austrian national team regained hope when Prass—who had come on as a substitute just four minutes earlier—blasted the ball under the crossbar off a pass from Wimmer and celebrated his first goal in his 23rd international match. The goal was initially disallowed due to an alleged offside by Wimmer. However, slow-motion replays showed that the ball had been played to the Lower Austrian by Jason Molumby, whereupon the goal was awarded following a VAR review.

Less than six minutes later, the equalizer came—and in a rather curious fashion. Kelleher anticipated a shot over the wall on a Gregoritsch free kick at the edge of the penalty area and made a corresponding move, but the Augsburg striker curled the ball into the empty corner of the net.

(Bild: EPA/EVAN TREACY)

The Irish, who had been passive up to that point, stepped up their game again, with Dara O’Shea forcing Wiegele into a save (79'). At the other end, Gregoritsch shot over the bar from seven meters out (81'). The final stages clearly belonged to the Austrians, but they were unable to score the winning goal, partly because Prass missed the goal (89').

The ÖFB team travels on to Prishtina
With this result, the ÖFB team now has seven points following 3-1 home wins over Israel and Kosovo. The final match of this training camp will take place on Sunday in Prishtina. To conclude the group stage, they will face Ireland on November 14 in Linz and Israel on November 17 in Debrecen.

The result:
Ireland – Austria 2–2 (2–0)
Dublin, Aviva Stadium, 45,784 spectators, Referee Allard Lindhout (NED)

Goals: 1–0 (12') Parrott, 2–0 (45'/penalty) Parrott, 2–1 (72') Prass, 2–2 (77') Gregoritsch

Yellow cards: Abankwah, Manning, and Wöber

Ireland: Kelleher – O’Shea, Egan, Scales (63’ Kitching) – Abankwah (75' O'Brien), Azaz, Coventry, Manning – Moylan (86' Cannon), Idah (63' Molumby) – Parrott (75' Ogbene)
Austria: Wiegele – Posch, Affengruber (46. Wöber), Lienhart, Mwene – Seiwald (46. Laimer), X. Schlager – Wimmer, Chukwuemeka (46' Gregoritsch), Schmid (67' Prass) – Kalajdzic