Women’s Euros 2022: Austria leave Northern Ireland playing for pride

Austria 2 Northern Ireland 0

Northern Ireland will be playing for pride when they face England on Friday, but they have already fostered plenty of that. This was a gutsy, spirited showing that could even have brought a draw when earlier a rout had seemed likely.

In the end Katharina Schiechtl’s close-range effort midway through the first half and an angled late strike from the substitute Katharina Naschenweng were all that separated the teams, a fact that may hinder Austria’s prospects of progress, and the growth of this team was plain to see. While they rarely worked goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger, Kenny Shiels’s side showed composure and intelligence that bode well for their future in tournament football.

Austria had looked competent and compact against England without packing a significant punch. This felt like an opportunity to showcase some potency in the knowledge that, should they at least match Norway’s 4-1 victory over the same opponents, their chances of qualifying for the knock-out stages could be enhanced when the sides meet on Friday.

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Against a well-organised but functional Northern Ireland, they wasted little time. The striker Nicole Billa, an excellent performer with Hoffenheim in Germany, was undeterred by being up against three centre backs and stretched them with clever movement from the start.

She had already headed a searching Barbara Dunst cross wide when, in the 10th minute, a curved run down the inside-right sent her away into the box. Demi Vance was back quickly enough to provide a deterrent, forcing a shot into the side netting, but the sequence was of a piece with Austria’s early pressure.

Shortly afterwards Billa almost squeezed Marie Höbinger’s delivery past Jackie Burns at the near post. The problem for Northern Ireland was that, while Lauren Wade offered both hope and respite with two bright bursts up the right flank, opportunities to get players forward in threatening numbers were vanishingly rare.

A goal looked likely and it arrived after a messy foul by Vance on the right winger Julia Hickelsberger, a new clubmate of Billa, by the right corner of the penalty area. The free-kick from Sarah Puntigam did not initially ooze menace but, directed low, it snicked off Julie Nelson in Northern Ireland’s wall. It fell perfectly for Schiechtl, on the run, to guide neatly across Burns and leave Austria sighting the kind of margin that would prove more than handy.

To Northern Ireland’s credit, Austria looked less likely to achieve it as the first half went on. They were only seriously troubled once more, and that scrape was self-inflicted. When Burns tried to play out from a tight position, she passed straight to the impressive Dunst. Thinking with the speed she had shown all half, the left winger looked to float the ball into the far corner; Burns recovered superbly and managed to flip it on to the crossbar, allowing her team to retain hope. They won two corners just before the interval and, while those came to nothing, a lively support had some encouragement to grasp before the sides returned.

A double half-time change suggested Irene Fuhrmann, the Austria coach, sought a return to their earlier tempo. Up in the stands her compatriot, the Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl, would have largely been impressed by the fluidity of their performance. But they drifted in the early moments of the second period and, after Wade hooked over with a speculative effort from distance, Shiels was sufficiently encouraged to urge his players forward.

Northern Ireland’s confidence in possession had noticeably grown, even though they continued to dice with danger at the back on occasion. They had stepped several yards up the pitch and, even if moments of cohesion in attack were few, it meant Austria found it much more difficult to create opportunities of their own. When Dunst let fly in the 64th minute it was a relatively rare moment of unease, although Burns’s heart must have skipped a beat as the half-volley skimmed through her fingers and flew just over.

The chance Shiels craved almost arrived when Hickelsberger reacted superbly before Wade could finish off some fine work from Kirsty McGuinness. From the resulting corner, Rachel Furness looped a header on to the roof of the Austria net. A clearer glimpse never came and Naschenweng settled the issue on the break, but Northern Ireland deserved their ovation at the end. – Guardian