Lainer and Gregoritsch score as Austria beat North Macedonia 3-1 in Euro 2020; check out

Austria 3-1 North Macedonia: Austria registered their first ever victory at the Euro 2020 as they beat North Macedonia 3-1 in Bucharest on Sunday.

Goals from Lainer, Gregoritsch and Arnautovic sealed the points for Austria. Pandev scored for North Macedonia; but in the end it meant nothing more than a consolation goal.

FIRST HALF

Austria kicked off proceedings and it was a good watch for the first 10 minutes as Austria and North Macedonia went at each other.

North Macedonia kept pressing Austria high up field and looked to utilize the pace of Elmas.

Austria took the lead in the 18^th minute after some good play as Lainer scored for 1-0.

Lainer timed his run perfectly and volleyed home from Sabitzer’s cross to send his side in front.

There was a moment of catastrophe as Hinteregger made a mistake in the defense which let Pandev equalize for the Euro 2020 debutants in the 28^th minute.

Austria’s keeper rushed out to get the ball but could not hold on as the North Macedonia skipper slotted into an empty net to get his side back on level terms.

The rest of the half did not have much in terms of chances and we reached half time with the score at 1-1.

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SECOND HALF

North Macedonia started the second half brighter and looked more direct in their approach.

They had a good chance to get in front from Nikolov but Bachmann was out quickly to smother it.

At the other end, Austria had their chance as well as Gregoritsch flicked his header on target from Arnautovic’s cross; but it was saved well by Dimitrievski.

David Alaba and Co took the lead in the 78^th minute to make it 2-1 as Gregoritsch poked home from Alaba’s delicious cross to give his side the advantage.

This was the killer punch as North Macedonia were completely deflated and lost their shape.

Arnautovic capped off a brilliant night for the Austria side in the 89^th minute as he made it 3-1.

Bejtulai made a mess of the clearance at the back which let Arnautovic on goal before he took the ball around the keeper and rolled home for the points.

It finished 3-1 to Austria as their experience and precision matters in the crucial moments.

North Macedonia played well for a debutant side but nerves, errors at key moments saw the game slip away.

This was Austria’s first ever victory at the European Championship since their debut in 2008.

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