Austria thrash Norway to boost Nations League promotion hopes
In the continued absence of Martin Odegaard, Norway talisman Erling Haaland was wearing the captain’s armband, and he came the width of the woodwork handing his side the lead inside six minutes.
While Haaland was denied by the upright, opposite number Marko Arnautovic used it to his advantage moments later as the hosts drew first blood.
The Inter Milan forward drifted past Andreas Hanche-Olsen and rifled a shot in off the underside of the bar, leaving Orjan Nyland with no chance of making a save.
Chances came at both ends following the opener, with Alexander Sorloth and Haaland firing off-target for Norway before Christoph Baumgartner was denied by Nyland.
That save proved pivotal, as the visitors found the equaliser that their first-half performance had merited just six minutes before the interval.
It came in controversial fashion from a set-piece, with the Austrians furious with what they perceived to be a foul as the free-kick floated in. Their protestations fell on deaf ears, and Sorloth pounced to head home from Julian Ryerson’s delivery.
Ralf Rangnick’s men responded after the break, showing considerably more spark than the floodlights which temporarily failed and plunged the stadium into darkness.
The hosts didn’t allow their momentum to be stunted by that disruption, and they won a penalty within three minutes of the restart.
Hanche-Olsen desperately felled Baumgartner after an incisive move cut the Norway defence apart, and Arnautovic confidently stepped up, arrowing his low spot-kick into the bottom corner beyond the reach of Nyland, despite the goalkeeper guessing correctly.
That was the cue for Austria to go goal crazy, and they doubled their lead just before the hour mark when Romano Schmid’s out-swinging corner was met by a towering header from Philipp Lienhart, who powered home his second goal in as many matches in this international break.
A fourth arrived just four minutes later when Stefan Posch headed home from Marcel Sabitzer’s cross.
Stale Solbakken’s men had no answer to their hosts, who added a fifth when Sabitzer produced a carbon copy of his assist for the fourth, this time converted by Michael Gregoritsch minutes after he came off the bench.
That rounded off a second consecutive Nations League win for Rangnick’s men after a seven-game unbeaten run in the competition previously, while Norway tasted defeat for the first time in five matches they’ve played without captain and creator-in-chief Odegaard.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marko Arnautovic (Austria)
