A strong performance from a surprising Austria side was enough to put down a disappointing Russia as the hosts won 1-0 and secured their place atop Group G in European Championship qualifying.
Austria vs. Russia: Final score 1-0, Austria earn big win to stay first in group
After a tight affair for most of the match, Austria were able to find a breakthrough and won 1-0, putting Russia’s qualification hopes on much shakier ground than they’d thought they’d be by now.
Christian Hofer/Getty Images
The first half was a cagey and even affair, with neither side wanting to over-commit to their attack and leave their defense exposed. While possession was even, Russia took more shots than their hosts, with Martin Hinteregger struggling in his duties trying to contain Aleksandr Kokorin. Austria had the better quality of chances, though, including a Martin Harnik shot from range that Igor Akinfeev had to make a strong save to stop, and a chance late in the half that saw Akinfeev just barely parry the ball away before Marc Janko could nod it in.
Things got off to a nervier start in the second half, with Denis Cheryshev making the wrong choice when he was almost one-on-one with Austria's goalkeeper, shooting straight at Robert Almer when a lob would have put Russia ahead. Then Austrian winger Marko Arnautovic had a chance put on a platter for him... and skied it over the bar when Akinfeev was struggling to get in position to make a save.
There was a moment of controversy just a few minutes after Arnautovic’s miss. Martin Harnik, by far Austria’s best performer on the day, drove in to the box one-on-one with Russian left back Dmitri Kombarov. When Harnik tried to round Kombarov, the fullabck shoved him off the ball, then shoulder-checked the Austrian when he tried to run back on to the ball before it went out for a goal kick. It looked like a clear penalty for the hosts, but English referee Martin Atkinson was uninterested in Harnik’s protests.
Another crazy moment came after the 70th minute. It looked like Austria had scored after a scramble in front of goal, but Akinfeev was just barely able to claw the ball off the line before it crossed. It looked like Russia had been bailed out when the threw the ball far up the pitch while the Austrian players appealed to Atkinson that they had scored, but Koborov lost the ball to Harnik, who raced down and put in a cross just in front of a diving Akinfeev. Substitute Rubin Okotie, who had struck the shot that Akinfeev somehow kept out seconds before, was waiting on the end of it, and he fired home to put the hosts up 1-0.
After that, Austria did everything they could to keep the Russian attack off balance and out of the net. Russia had a handful of chances, but a tight and organized defense kept them from scoring. The loss is a huge blow to Russia, who could slip in to fourth in the group depending on the result of the match between Montenegro and Sweden later, and Fabio Capello’s hot seat as Russia’s boss is getting hotter by the minute after this result.
Austria, on the other hand, look to have fully earned their place atop the group, a position that they’ve well earned with another in a series of strong performances in their qualifying run. Every cycle, a few new teams emerge as surprise entrants to the European Championship final tournament, and this time around it’s looking more and more like Austria will be one of them.
Austria: Robert Almer; Florian Klein, Aleksandar Dragovic (Sebastian Prodl 86’), Martin Hinteregger, Christian Fuchs; Martin Harnik, Christoph Leitgeib, Julian Baumgartlinger, Marko Arnuatovic (Marcel Sabitzer 90’+1); Zlatko Junozovic; Marc Janko (Rubin Okotie 59’)
Goals: Okotie (72’)
Russia: Igor Akinfeev; Sergei Parshivlyuk, Vassili Berezutski, Sergei Ignashevich, Dmitri Kombarv; Roman Shirokov, Denis Glushakov, Viktor Faizulin (Artem Dzyuba 74’); Oleg Shatov (Alan Dzagoev 81’), Aleksandr Kokorin, Denis Cheryshev (Alexei Ionov 56’)
See More:
