Austria 1-0 Northern Ireland: Arnautovic fires hosts to victory in Nations League

Northern Ireland knew all about the threat of Marko Arnautovic, but it counted for very little as the West Ham striker fired Austria to victory in Vienna.

Arnautovic, captain in the absence of Bayer Leverkusen’s Julian Baumgartlinger, struck in the 71st minute for his fourth goal in the last seven internationals and celebrated by waving his armband in the air in response to those who had questioned his suitability for the job.

Defeat left Michael O’Neill’s side with no points from two Nations League games and bottom of Group B3 ahead of Monday’s clash with leaders Bosnia in Sarajevo.

‘We knew the threat of Arnautovic,’ said manager Michael O’Neill. ‘You can tell he’s a talismanic player or the Austrian team.

‘But he’s got real quality and he showed it in that moment. He waited and it was a cool finish.’

Without their own talisman Kyle Lafferty, they went agonisingly close to an equaliser in the dying minutes but substitute Will Grigg’s header hit the post.

A healthy Northern Ireland following boosted the 22,300 crowd at a half-empty Ernst Happel Stadion, suggesting that the Austrian public have yet to warm to the fledgling Nations League despite their country’s run of eight wins in the last 10 internationals before kick-off.

A team led aggressively by Arnautovic certainly played with an air of confidence in a first half that was low on chances and high on errors.

The worst of them was committed by Leeds goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell who was guilty of a blunder on his competitive debut against Bosnia last month, and almost cost his team another goal here when he inexplicably picked up Jonny Evans’s back-pass in the 17th minute.

Fortunately for the 21-year-old, Josh Magennis stood strong as Arnautovic blasted his freekick from nine yards out straight into the Northern Ireland wall.

The Bolton striker had already helped out in defence once by deflecting Marcel Sabitzer’s volley inches over the bar, while Sabitzer wasted another chance when he miscontrolled when through on goal.

Northern Ireland defended stoutly as they soaked up the pressure but lacked the fluency going forward that had been such a positive aspect of their last two games against Bosnia and Israel.

Their only chance of the first half arrived in the 29th minute when Oliver Norwood picked out Shane Ferguson with an excellent cross driven to the back post, but the Millwall man couldn’t keep his header down as it sailed over the bar.

Two other opportunities from free kicks were also wasted as O’Neill’s side struggled to pose any serious threat to their opponents.

It took them less than two minutes of the second half to improve on that as Evans flicked on Stuart Dallas’s throw-in and the ball ran for Paddy McNair who forced a flying save from Heinz Lindner.

Peacock-Farrell then redeemed himself with two good saves in quick succession as the game sprang to life, turning away Arnautovic’s attempt after he had barged his way through and then keeping out another low effort from Sabitzer.

Steven Davis had the fourth good opportunity within eight minutes of the restart when he went through on goal, but the Northern Ireland skipper dragged his shot wide of the far post.

It was Austria who made the breakthrough 19 minutes from time and there was no surprise that Arnautovic was the man to make it. He had been Austria’s standout player and the biggest threat up to that point.

Northern Ireland were in trouble from the moment a pass was played into the left channel and Arnautovic got the wrong side of McNair, played just onside by Jamal Lewis on the opposite flank. The former Stoke striker took one touch as he closed in on goal and then lifted his shot over Peacock-Farrell’s outstretched leg.

The visiting fans had been belting out their ‘Will Grigg’s on Fire’ anthem since the hour mark and got their wish when he came on for Magennis in the 79th minute.

Grigg went closest to scoring for Northern Ireland just five minutes later when he met a corner from the left with a flick header that came back off the inside of the far post and bounced into the keeper’s hands.

Northern Ireland remain bottom of Group B3 with games to go, but O’Neill added: ‘If we’re relegated it’s not a national disaster for us.

‘Let’s be honest, what’s the significance of relegation in this competition? It means that we’d play in League Three when it comes around in two years’ time. We’ll deal with it.’