Ireland let a two goal lead slip and end up with a share of the points against Austria

Republic Of Ireland 2

Austria 2

The Republic of Ireland had to settle for a draw with Austria after letting a two goal slip in their UEFA Nations League clash at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday night.

Troy Parrott got the goals and Adam Idah an assist, on a night torn apart by two late strikes from the visitors.

The result leaves the Boys in Green third in the group, level on points with Kosovo, with a game to come on Sunday against Israel in Serbia.

Cork was involved in almost every aspect of the game as Caoimhin Kelleher made a string of excellent saves, Idah registered an assist, John Egan featured in defence, and there were appearances off the bench by Chiedozie Ogbene and Jake O’Brien.

They all starred against an Austria side targeting promotion in the group under former Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick.

Their favourites tag meant nothing to an Ireland side fresh from a 3-0 hammering of Israel, and returning home for their first competitive fixture in Dublin since their famous victory over Portugal in November 2025.

Ireland picked up where they left off on Sunday against Israel. 

They pressed high with Idah and James Abankwah doing the running in wide positions.

Austria only has one real moment, a neat move involving Patrick Wimmer and Xaver Schlager that tried to release Sasa Kalajdzic. Abankwah got in the way of that with a stern challenge that stopped the striker from getting room on the edge of the area.

It was all going according to plan and things got better in the 12th minute with a long pass from Kelleher to Idah. 

The striker headed it on for Parrott, who produced an extraordinary run to beat Philipp Lienhart and David Affengruber before cooly rolling the ball passed the Austrian goalkeeper.

At 1-0, Austria had very little to offer as a cross from Stefan Posch went nowhere and any attempt at playing through was met with a green wall.

Ireland did more than hold firm during these exchanges; the defence stood firm to deal with a succession of crosses and corners, while Austria’s one shot on target in the half was stopped by Kelleher with a reflex save in the 40th minute.

The second goal confirmed this sense of domination. It came from a deep cross that Parrot and Egan struggled to take down inside the area. 

The ball eventually went to Manning, who was fouled by Nicolas Seiwald as he tried to control it.

The resulting penalty was neatly tucked away by Parrott in the first minute of time added on, to give Ireland a comfortable 2-0 advantage at the break.

It took some time for the game to get going after the restart, as Austria has possession while rarely threatening.

Ireland were content to sit deep during these exchanges, a choice reflected in a double change on the 62nd minute that saw Jayson Molumby and Kitching replace Idah and Scales.

Austria targeted the wide channels when space opened up, an avenue that led to their first goal in the 72nd minute. 

Wimmer sent the ball in on that occasion and an failed clearance by Molumby set up Alexander Prass for a clean strike from close range that made it 2-1.

The scorer was brought down by Egan with his next touch around the area. 

The resulting free-kick was taken by Michael Gregoritsch and drilled into the bottom corner for the equaliser in the 75th minute.

The ensuring sense of disappointment was almost flipped within seconds of the restart as O’Shea managed to get free and unleash a blistering shot that was pushed out for a corner that came to nothing.

That was as close as Ireland got to a winner. Austria got into that position once and Prass headed the ball over the bar while looking at the travelling fans in the 88th minute.

Republic of Ireland: Caoimhin Kelleher; James Abankwah, John Egan, Dara O’Shea, Liam Scales, Ryan Manning; Finn Azaz, Conor Coventry; Adam Idah, Jack Moylan, Troy Parrott.

Subs: Liam Kitching for Scales (62); Jayson Molumby for Idah (62), Chiedozie Ogbene for Parrott (74), Jake O’Brien for Abankwah (74), Tom Cannon for Moylan (85), Austria: Florian Wiegele; Stefan Posch, David Affengruber, Philipp Lienhart, Phillipp Mwene; Nicolas Seiwald, Xaver Schlager; Patrick Wimmer, Carney Chukwuemeka, Romano Schmid; Sasa Kalajdzic.

Subs: Maximilian Wöber for Affengruber (HT); Konrad Laimer for Seiwald (HT), Michael Gregoritsch for Chukwuemeka (HT), Alexander Prass for Schmid (67), Referee: Allard Lindhout (Netherlands)