Slovenia score late on to spoil Austria's Nations League promotion party
The hosts were completely dominant in the first half, and their first real chance fell to Konrad Laimer inside the opening 15 minutes, as he drove through on goal before unleashing a shot that was spilt by Jan Oblak.
They eventually found the breakthrough before the half-hour mark as Romano Schmid latched onto Christoph Baumgartner’s through ball before calmly slotting into the bottom corner. Austria could have added to their lead before the break as Baumgartner himself was denied by Oblak from close range before Marcel Sabitzer turned and struck the side-netting.
The Borussia Dortmund man had a similar opportunity right at the start of the second half, but after a nice turn in the area, he could only place the ball just wide of the post.
Austria were relentless in the early stages, as Baumgartner curled just wide from distance before Sabitzer’s volley also trickled past the post. Benjamin Sesko, who scored five of Slovenia’s six UNL goals before this evening’s clash, was largely kept quiet all game but did try to bulldoze his way through only for his effort to be well-blocked by the covering defender.
Austria had only conceded after the break only once in their previous nine home matches, but despite dominating the majority of the match, Slovenia managed to find an equaliser with just nine minutes to go.
Zan Karnicnik had a rare opportunity to get forward and picked out Adam Gnezda Cerin from the right-hand side, who hit his shot into the ground as it bobbled over Patrick Pentz and stunned the home faithful.
It was a killer blow for the hosts after Norway beat Kazakhstan to leapfrog them into top spot and secure automatic promotion to League A, and while Slovenia are still yet to beat Austria since 1999, they will feel proud to steal a point in such a tough ground.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Adam Gnezda Cerin (Slovenia)