UEFA Nations League: Denmark edge past Austria after power outage in Vienna delays game

Action from Denmark vs Austria UEFA Nations League match. (Photo: Reuters)

Jens Stryger Larsen’s late winner guided Denmark to a nervy 2-1 win over Austria in their UEFA Nations League group match on Monday (June 6) after kickoff was delayed by 90 minutes due to a power outage in Vienna. The game eventually kicked off at 10:15 pm local time after power was restored, but not before the fans at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion entertained themselves with a Mexican wave using the lights on their mobile phones.

After a cagey start, Denmark took the lead in the 27th minute when midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg started the move with a pass out to the right flank and sprinted into the box to get on the receiving end of Rasmus Kristensen’s cross to score. But Ralf Rangnick’s Austria dominated after the restart and their persistence with the high press eventually paid off when the home side nicked the ball off keeper Kasper Schmeichel in Denmark’s box before Xaver Schlager fired home the equaliser.

Denmark have won 6 of their last 7 games against Austria #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/Kdcdf5oUY2 — UEFA Nations League (@EURO2024) June 6, 2022

Marko Arnautovic, playing his 100th game for Austria, hit the post after rounding Schmeichel and Denmark made him pay in the 84th minute when Larsen curled a shot past the keeper to grab the winner, scored at the stroke of midnight. The result moved Denmark to the top of Group A1 with six points from two games while Austria are second after France were held to a 1-1 draw away at Croatia earlier on Monday.

Racial abuse of England players after Euro final complicates shootouts, says Gareth Southgate

Online racist abuse directed towards Black players in the England team after last year’s European Championship final has further complicated preparations for penalty shootouts, England manager Gareth Southgate said. Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were the targets of the abuse after they missed spot-kicks in England’s 3-2 shootout loss to Italy after the game ended 1-1 following extra time.

“We went through a process of preparing for penalties. We’ve definitely reviewed that,” Southgate told reporters on Monday, ahead of England’s UEFA Nations League match against Germany. “But indirectly we have created another layer of difficulty in overcoming a penalty shootout. I have got to take all these things into consideration and it is incredibly complex.”

Southgate, once the face of English failure for his own penalty miss against Germany in Euro 1996, added that he would not let the potential consequences of a miss sway him when picking penalty takers.

(with Reuters inputs)