Austria fight back to draw 2-2 in Dublin after Troy Parrott brace for Ireland
Troy Parrott scored two first-half goals before Austria substitutes Alexander Prass and Michael Gregoritsch struck to secure a 2-2 Nations League draw at the Aviva Stadium.
Parrott gives Ireland early control
The Republic of Ireland surrendered a two-goal advantage at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Thursday evening, finishing with a 2-2 draw against Austria in UEFA Nations League Group B3. Striker Troy Parrott gave Ireland the lead in the 12th minute after latching onto a flicked header from Adam Idah, nutmegging defender Philipp Lienhart, and finishing past Austrian goalkeeper Florian Wiegele. Parrott added his second goal of the night from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time to take his career international tally to 14 goals. Stand-in captain Dara O'Shea and returning starter John Egan anchored an Irish defensive line that repelled early Austrian attempts, including a long-range lob from Sasa Kalajdzic that drifted over Caoimhin Kelleher.
- Troy Parrott opens the scoring with a solo run past Philipp Lienhart
- Play paused as tennis balls with Palestinian flags are thrown onto the pitch
- Match interrupted as a pitch invader carrying a Palestinian flag is tackled
- Troy Parrott converts a penalty to double Ireland's lead to 2-0
- Austrian substitute Alexander Prass scores to halve the deficit
- Austrian substitute Michael Gregoritsch scores the equalising goal
Pitch protests disrupt first half
The first half experienced two separate interruptions linked to demonstrations regarding the team's upcoming fixtures against Israel. Around the 20th minute, Dutch referee Allard Lindhout paused play after tennis balls covered in stickers featuring the Palestinian flag and the hashtag "#StopTheGame" were thrown onto the pitch from the stands. A second delay occurred around the 35th minute when a demonstrator carrying a Palestinian flag ran onto the playing surface before being tackled by security personnel. Outside the stadium, demonstrations took place prior to kickoff, though an official attendance of 45,784 spectators inside the ground backed the home squad.
Austrian substitutions force comeback
Austria head coach Ralf Rangnick altered his formation with half-time substitutions to shift momentum after seeing his side outplayed across the opening 50 minutes. The changes paid off in the 71st minute when substitute Alexander Prass scored from inside the penalty area to halve Ireland's advantage. Six minutes later, fellow substitute Michael Gregoritsch found the net in the 77th minute to equalize the contest at 2-2. Dara O'Shea nearly restored Ireland's lead late in regular time with a powerful drive, but Wiegele turned the shot away to preserve Austria's unbeaten status in the group.
Rangnick acknowledged Parrott's opening display while evaluating the turnaround after the final whistle.
As long as he was on the pitch, he was man of the match. Not only because he scored a brilliant goal, but also because he was involved in almost any of the offensive situations that Ireland created. So, to me, it was an excellent performance.
Group standings and post-match reaction
The result leaves the Republic of Ireland sitting third in Group B3 at the halfway stage of the campaign, trailing both Austria and Kosovo. Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson, whose squad made three changes from Sunday's 3-0 win against Israel by bringing in Finn Azaz, Liam Scales, and Egan, pointed to physical exhaustion following a demanding schedule.
It's just fatigue in the team, and we knew that, we knew that. Now that's why, even though we have only one point and we made a draw in this game, I think we should be really happy with the players that we played for until the end, trying to get that winning goal.
Ireland now prepares to travel to Backa Topola in Serbia to play a behind-closed-doors match against Israel on Sunday.
