Ireland blow two-goal lead as Hallgrimsson admits side 'ran out of gas' against Austria
The Republic of Ireland surrendered a two-goal lead in Dublin on Thursday night as Austria fought back for a 2-2 Nations League Group B3 draw, with manager Heimir Hallgrimsson admitting his side had, as he feared, "run out of gas".
Ireland, looking to build on last Sunday's 3-0 Nations League victory over Israel, stormed into a 2-0 lead in their third Group B3 match thanks to a brace from Troy Parrott. The striker's opener was a stunning solo effort, skipping past two defenders before slotting past goalkeeper Florian Wiegele, and his second arrived from the penalty spot late in the first half.
By that stage the game had twice been halted due to protests related to Ireland's upcoming reverse fixture against Israel, which will be played on Sunday on neutral ground in Belgrade. Hallgrimsson felt the mental toll of the debate surrounding that fixture played a part in his side's second-half collapse.
Austria's substitutes turn the game
Liam Kitching's error allowed substitute Alexander Prass to pull a goal back for Austria in the 71st minute — just 208 seconds after coming off the bench, with the Hoffenheim man opening his international account on his 23rd senior cap. Shortly afterwards, fellow substitute Michael Gregoritsch curled a free-kick past Caoimhin Kelleher to equalise.
For the in-form Augsburg forward, who has three goals in four Bundesliga appearances this season, it was a 25th international strike, making him the 11th Austrian to reach that figure.
The comeback keeps Austria top of the group on seven points from three games, while Ireland sit on four ahead of Sunday's return meeting with Israel, who remain bottom after earning their first point of the campaign in a goalless draw with Kosovo on Thursday.
'I expected us to run out of gas — but maybe not so quickly'
"Obviously we were happy to be 2-0 up at half-time," Hallgrimsson told RTE Sport afterwards. "We knew, and I told you before the game, that this team is high energy; and we knew that we needed to do some rotation and make changes."
"I felt like we just lost organisation, probably due to tiredness, and then you start to make mistakes. That was something that we were obviously not happy with, but the first half was good, the organisation was good, we know we can do this."
"I expected us to run out of gas at some point, but maybe not so quickly," he added. "This week has not only been physically difficult, but it's been mentally difficult and that takes a lot of energy as well."
It was a marked contrast to the aftermath of Sunday's 3-0 win over Israel, when Hallgrimsson praised his side's relentlessness and noted there were "a lot of empty tanks" at the end of that performance. On Wednesday he had also said that he and the FAI would learn from the fallout surrounding the decision to play Israel, as protests and criticism continued into matchweek.
Parrott makes history despite the disappointment
Parrott's double took him to nine goals in his last six competitive outings for Ireland, while his four braces for his country are the most any player has ever scored for Ireland while aged under 25, surpassing the three managed by Robbie Keane.
Attention now turns to Sunday's meeting with Israel in Belgrade, where Ireland will aim to convert their early dominance into points after letting Thursday's winning position slip.