Austria pull off another late show to stay top of Group B3

Ronaldo-less Portugal won against Norway while Jurgen Klopp’s frustrating start with Germany continued

Goncalo Ramos of Portugal scores the winner against and Norway at the Estadio do Dragao. Photograph: Octavio Passos/Getty Images
Goncalo Ramos of Portugal scores the winner against and Norway at the Estadio do Dragao. Photograph: Octavio Passos/Getty Images

Austria pulled off a second comeback in the space of four days to earn a draw against Kosovo in their Nations League meeting in Group B3.

Having salvaged a share of the points with two second-half goals in Dublin on Thursday, Austria conjured a late reply to Kosovo’s opener in Pristina.

Fisnik Asllani put the hosts ahead on 70 minutes, but Christoph Lang denied Kosovo a second win of the group stages – the first coming in their opening game against Ireland last month – with his equaliser five minutes from full-time.

The result leaves Austria unbeaten at the top of the group, with eight points from their opening four fixtures, while Kosovo sit second on five points, ahead of Ireland on account of their head-to-head result.

In League A, Joshua Zirkzee scored the winner as the Netherlands snatched a 2-1 win over Serbia in Group 2.

Teun Koopmeiners put the Dutch ahead with a free-kick from out on the right which flew straight in, before Mihajlo Cvetkovic equalised with a header.

But half-time substitute Zirkzee secured the three points with a tap-in from Ruben van Bommel’s cross.

Elsewhere in the same group, Germany’s frustrating start under new boss Jürgen Klopp continued with a goalless draw in Greece.

In Group 4 of the top tier league, Portugal – without Cristiano Ronaldo following his walk-out last week – beat Norway 2-1 thanks to a Goncalo Ramos winner.

Brentford defender Kristoffer Ajer fired Norway ahead with a spectacular goal, chesting down Martin Odegaard’s long ball before volleying home from the edge of the box.

But seven minutes later Joao Cancelo came up with anther scorcher from 20 yards to equalise.

Norway striker Erling Haaland appeared to be struggling with an injury when he went off after 67 minutes.

Ramos tapped in the deciding goal at the far post 12 minutes from time before Portugal lost Francisco Conceicao to a second yellow card.

A calamitous piece of goalkeeping by Wales’ Danny Ward gifted Denmark a 1-0 win.

Ward sliced a clearance straight at Gustav Isaksen and then brought down the Danish winger to concede a penalty.

Ward survived a VAR check for a red card but was then sent the wrong way from the spot by Rasmus Hojlund.

Dor Peretz cancelled out Troy Parrott’s penalty as Israel drew 1-1 with the Republic of Ireland.

Elsewhere, Kosovo drew 1-1 with Austria, Malta were 1-0 winners over Andorra and Azerbaijan beat Lithuania 1-0.

On Saturday, a 70th-minute penalty strike from John McGinn earned Scotland full points away to North Macedonia in Group B1, while England served up a 7-0 demolition away to Croatia.

Kane and Bukayo Saka both scored twice, Jude Bellingham scored one and made three more, while Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers were also on the mark.

Kane, who is now on 89 international goals from 124 games, says the performance has to be the blueprint for how England play.

“Even when we were 1-0 up, we went for two, went for three, went for four, and that’s got to be our mentality,” he said. “When you have a certain style of playing, you can’t just pick and choose when you want to do it. It’s just relentless. It’s non-stop.

“We’re playing against a really good side. We can’t take this type of win for granted because it could have been a really tricky game for us.

“And it’s always just sending messages – not just to yourself, but to the other teams around Europe. I think we’ve done that again.

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