Austria outlast brave Ireland to top Nations League group

Detailed summary

Austria secured promotion to the top tier of the Nations League with a game to spare after LASK-Linz striker Sasa Kalajdzic came off the bench to score a 79th-minute winner…

Austria secured promotion to the top tier of the Nations League with a game to spare after LASK-Linz striker Sasa Kalajdzic came off the bench to score a 79th-minute winner against the Republic of Ireland in his club ground.

It was a maddeningly avoidable goal for Ireland to concede with 12 minutes remaining on a frigid night in Linz.

After an impressive tactical approach from Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men, failure to clear an Austria corner led to Kalajdzic bundling the ball into Caoimhín Kelleher’s goal.

Should Kalajdzic have been sent off for an earlier elbow? “I need to see it again,” the Ireland manager said.

Kelleher is beyond criticism as the Brentford goalkeeper kept his country in the contest with a string of sensational saves.

“We want to be brave in the beginning, we want to test them in the first-half,” Hallgrímsson had said before kick-off.

“[Troy Parrott, Adam Idah and Jack Moylan] have been doing well in the sessions and we thought, why not? Let’s go for it again even if it is a tough opponent in a tough away ground.”

Hallgrímsson was talking about the decision to start two centre forwards in Parrott and Idah, with Moylan completing the front three as Finn Azaz settled into his new role as a distributing, holding midfielder.

Bravery is an essential trait for any successful team, but what makes the current front-three so effective is Moylan and Parrott are operating in their favoured positions, while Idah is willing to drill down, win his duels and connect the triangular attack.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Irish Times. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.