Norway 2-1 Austria: Haaland strikes late as Odegaard suffers injury scare

Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard limped off as Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scored late to seal a 2-1 victory for Norway against Austria in the Nations League.

Odegaard appeared to injure his ankle following a tangle of legs with Christoph Baumgartner, subsequently leaving the field in tears in the 67th minute.

It provides a bitter blow for Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta ahead of this weekend’s north London derby with Tottenham Hotspur, with Declan Rice also missing after his red card against Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Gunners captain left the field with the scores level at Ullevaal Stadion after Felix Myhre’s ninth minute strike was cancelled out by Marcel Sabitzer before half-time.

With Norway looking set to draw their first two games in their Nations League group, up stepped Haaland, who showed great strength and composure to score his 32nd goal on his 35th appearance for his country.

After Sunday’s derby, Arsenal take a trip to the Etihad Stadium to face champions Man City on September 22.

Matchvinner pic.twitter.com/UbNxcISuaV

— Fotballandslaget (@nff_landslag) September 9, 2024

Data Debrief: Haaland machine reboots

Having endured a difficult outing against minnow Kazakhstan last time out, Haaland rediscovered his goal-scoring touch just in time for his Premier League return.

The Man City striker accumulated an expected goals (xG) total of 0.37 to Norway’s 0.85 total, but managed just 18 touches, the lowest from any player from either side who started the contest.