sortiwa
Interim Scotland manager, Michael McArdle, began his tenure with a 1-0 Nations League defeat to Austria at the Josko Arena.
Lilli Purtscheller fired the home side ahead in the opening League A Group 1 fixture after 14 minutes and the home side deserved their interval lead, despite the visitors passing up a couple of chances.
Austria, who also had a new head coach in the technical area in Alexander Schriebl, might have expected more of a fight from the visitors after the break but the home goal was rarely threatened.
McArdle took over from Pedro Martínez Losa, who left in December after failing to reach Euro 2025, and he was looking to freshen up Scotland’s approach with a new-look squad. However, they produced a lacklustre performance with little creativity. Scotland, who have not qualified for a major tournament since 2019, face Netherlands at Hampden Park in their second fixture, with Germany also in their group.
The visitors engineered an opportunity in the eighth minute but Kirsty Hanson was thwarted by Arsenal goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger, who then saved a long distance effort from Martha Thomas.
Austria took advantage of slack defending by the Scots, who failed to repel a home attack despite having an overload of numbers in the penalty area and Purtscheller turned and lashed the ball high past goalkeeper Lee Gibson from 12 yards.
Gibson then saved an angled-drive from Purtscheller with her feet as Scotland wobbled and there was more concern when centre-back Sophie Howard sustained a nasty injury to her forehead which forced her to be substituted for Leah Eddie, leaving the Scots with a young defence.
Scotland gathered themselves and on the half-hour mark but Zinsberger made a fantastic instinctive save from Hanson’s close-range strike following a Caroline Weir corner.
Scotland stepped it up in the second half but only marginally while the dithering Gibson was caught in possession in her own box by substitute Viktoria Pinther but the visitors escaped thanks to an intervention by Sam Kerr, with the corner coming to nothing, much like the Scots’ efforts on the night.
Elsewhere, Hayley Ladd’s 100th appearance for Wales ended in a 1-0 defeat away to Italy.
after newsletter promotion
Everton midfielder Ladd become only the 10th player – male or female – to bring up a century of caps for Wales in Monza, but was unable to help the visitors recover from a poor start.
Barbara Bonansea broke the deadlock with a fifth-minute goal for Italy and it proved enough to settle an even contest in Group 4. The Dragons made a poor start on their return to League A with Bonansea finding the net after a succession of Italy corners.
Rhian Wilkinson’s side did respond admirably and captain, Angharad James, hit the woodwork, but it stayed 1-0 at the break. It was Wales who dictated play in the second period but while they finished with 52% possession, the away team were unable to find a leveller.
More to follow …
Source link