Norway’s first home loss in four years: –

Norway – Austria 1-2

ULLEVAAL (Dagbladet): On the day four years ago, Norway played around by Germany and lost 3-0 at home on Ullevaal. Since then, Per-Mathias Høgmo has been fired, Lars Lagerbäck has come in and made Ullevaal a fort.

But on Friday, the Swede got his first downfall in his Norwegian castle when Austria came to visit in the first Nations League match that leads up to the World Cup finals in 2022.

The guests dominated for a total of 60 minutes and led 2-0. Norway pressed in the last half hour, but received only a reduction. After the match, Lagerbäck was not very happy.

– It is quite easy to summarize. It was a Norwegian national team that did not work for 60 minutes. It was passive, it was not the interaction we were supposed to have and we were spread all over Norway. It felt like that sometimes.

He continues:

– We tried to correct it during the break. The last 30 minutes, the Norwegian national team came forward, I think. But they were very professional, they fell easily, and got the judge on it. There is still no excuse. We lost simply because we were a worse team, especially the first 60 minutes. We can only recharge our batteries and make sure we take revenge on Northern Ireland.

The majority of Austrians play in the German Bundesliga:

– These are very experienced players. They take their professional “fouls”. They filmed several times when there was a fight for the ball and threw themselves down. Afterwards you saw that they were not in pain at all. They were good at giving our players the little push in the 50/50 duels. I do not think he was good at that.

But, says Lagerbäck:

– It is something we must learn, to meet teams that behave in that way. But I think he was bad at picking this up. It was not the best refereeing effort I have seen.

TV 2 expert Brede Hangeland is not impressed either:

– This was for a long time a reality check for a Norwegian team, a small lesson against a good opponent.

– Not the charge we wanted at Ullevaal before the fateful match against Serbia in a month, Øyvind Alsaker added.

Too little, too late

Then there is the playoff semi-final where a ticket to the European Championship play-offs next summer is at stake.

– It is hard to explain. We do not interact as we should, it is the whole team that does not work, says Lagberäck.

Replaced King

Former national team captain Brede Hangeland criticized the Swede from the commentator position for not making changes earlier. Only after 64 minutes did Alexander Sørloth come in, while Joshua King came out. Thus, we did not get to see the three attacking seats King, Sørloth and Braut Haaland together.

– Josh was unsure of the match. It was because we did not want to risk him getting a muscle injury that he was taken out, we knew that in advance. Had he been completely ready, he would have continued to play, Lagerbäck explains at the press conference after the match.

Debutant mistake

After a dull, boring first half hour, it was Austria who took the lead in Oslo.

Morten Thorsby, who made his debut from the start, lost the ball outside his own 16-meter on Norway’s right side. Then the guests chopped up. The ball was put in front of goal, where Michael Gregoritsch put the ball in goal.

– Too strict

Even a break chat did not seem to help. Norway continued just as tame after the break, and Austria was punished, after the ball had hit the arm of Sander Berge, who was glued to his body.

– It’s too strict. Completely idiotic judgment, Brede Hangeland commented on TV.

– Not the best judgment I have seen, commented Lagerbäck. The penalty put Marcel Sabitzer safely in goal behind Rune Jarstein.

Haaland woke up

– Austria is the best in everything, Hangeland commented further.

So Lagerbäck took action. Alexander Sørloth in for Joshua King.

He only spent minutes taking on the role of waiter. After a short tussle with the defender, Erling Braut Haaland finally tucked the ball home.

His first goal for Norway’s A national team.

– The question is whether the exchanges should have come earlier, Hangeland said after the match, because Norway did not get the equalizer.

Ten minutes before the end came the big chance. Mathias Normann whipped a free kick into the box. Perfect on the head of Sander Berge, but the midfielder headed amazingly outside from close range.

Just before the end, Berge got the chance again – with his legs this time – but he knocked the ball outside again.

The second match in Norway’s group, Northern Ireland against Romania, ended 1-1. Norway meets Northern Ireland in Belfast on Monday night.

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