Israel forward Saied Abu Farchi was dismissed after celebrating his goal in Thursday’s 3-1 Nations League loss to Austria by pretending to fire a weapon with the corner flag.
Abu Farchi headed in an equaliser in the 55th minute after Romano Schmid’s penalty had given Austria the advantage before the interval at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz.
The 20-year-old rushed towards the corner, picked up the flag and used it to make a shooting motion as part of his celebration.
Having received his first booking four minutes earlier, Abu Farchi was shown another yellow card for the gesture and sent off, reducing Israel to 10 players.
Austria moved back in front in the 90th minute when Phillipp Mwene converted Paul Wanner’s delivery. Sasa Kalajdzic then completed the scoring from close range during added time.
The Republic of Ireland began their Nations League campaign with a 1-0 away loss to Kosovo in Pristina. Preparations for the match had been affected by debate over the forthcoming games against Israel, which Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson acknowledged had made several members of his squad uneasy.
Chiedozie Ogbene sent an early opportunity over the crossbar before Kosovo gained control late in the opening half. Two attempts from the hosts were cleared off the goal line, while Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher produced a fine save to keep out Vedat Muriqi’s header and preserve the goalless score at half-time.
Ireland, due to face Israel in Hungary on Sunday, defended with determination after the break. Their resistance ended seven minutes from time, however, when Kosovo captain Vedat Muriqi forced the ball home from close range.
In Group A4, Erling Haaland scored twice for Norway, including the decisive goal in the 74th minute, as they defeated Denmark 3-2 in Oslo and recorded their first competitive victory over their neighbours.
Captain Martin Ødegaard described the result as especially satisfying because it came against a neighbouring country. He admitted Norway still had areas to improve but praised the team for responding whenever Denmark applied pressure.
Denmark recovered from being two goals behind and drew level on the hour after Oscar Bobb and Haaland had established a 2-0 first-half lead for the home team. Norway finished the match with 10 players after David Møller Wolfe received a second yellow card in stoppage time.
In Belgrade, Greece overturned a one-goal deficit to secure a dramatic 2-1 win against Serbia, with Tasos Douvikas scoring the winner deep into added time. Malta also rallied from behind to defeat Andorra 2-1 in League D, while Lithuania earned a 2-0 away victory in Lichtenstein.
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