That’s all from me, thanks for reading. Here is Alan Smith’s match report from Vienna:
And you can also head over to take in Wales v Serbia:
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Harry Arter speaks! “I wanted [my competitive debut] to come with a good result, so we’re pleased. A few words from the manager changed things at the break. The pitch took a bit of time to get used to, but once we got our minds right then we knew we could get something. Second half we did all that and it’s a good result. You come here and probably take a draw before the game.”
From our man Alan Smith in Vienna:
U2 belting out here for the jubilant Éire fans. A #classytouch from the welcoming hosts. Goal aside it was ugly, but Ireland deserved that.
— Alan Smith (@alansmith90) November 12, 2016
Elsewhere, Croatia have beaten Iceland to take a hold of group I:
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That win sends Ireland top of group D, for now at least, with Wales v Serbia to come shortly. Austria meanwhile have only four points from four games and are six points shy behind the Irish. In the other game, Georgia drew 1-1 with Moldova in a match that has little relevance, though does at least get Moldova off the mark. “This doesn’t happen for us,” emails a stunned Niall Mullen (re Ireland, not Moldova). “The last away win against a direct rival I can remember was Scotland in 1987. 1-0, Mark Lawrenson off a quick free kick since you didn’t ask.”
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Full-time: Austria 0-1 Republic of Ireland
Referee Karasev blows to bring up a brilliant away win for Ireland. They defended well all match and James McClean’s clinical finish proved the difference.
90+4 min Walters powers towards the corner but Hinteregger dispossess him. Arnautovic brings it forward for Austria one last time. He finds Alaba down the left who crosses deep for Baumgartlinger, and his volley bounces kindly to Janko six yards out – but the big striker puts his header wide!
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90+2 min Ireland have the ball in Austria’s half to boos from the home fans as the green shirts knock it around.
90+1 min Four minutes to be added.
90 min Balls are flooding into the Irish box. One cross is cleared to Dragovic on the edge who drills a low shot on target, but Randolph is down well to hold it.
88 min Arnautovic crosses low from the left and when the ball is cleared back out towards him, he fouls Coleman, who is in no rush to get things going again. Republic of Ireland are closing in on a huge result in Vienna.
86 min Klein bends a cross for Janko at the far post who finds himself unmarked for once, but it’s a woeful effort that floats well wide. That was Austria’s best chance of the half.
84 min Ireland goalscorer James McClean is down with a knock and goes off to get some treatment. That’s his evening done, and he is replaced by Pretson’s Aiden McGeady.
82 min Martin Harnik, on for Sabitzer on the right wing, is immediately involved flicking a shot on target with his back to goal, but it’s easy enough for Randolph to claim.
79 min McClean drives 50 or 60 yards up the field and attacks the sub Ilsanker at right-back, who slips slightly. McClean gets into the box but then loses his footing too just as he is about to cross towards Walters, and Austria clear the danger.
77 min Hoolahan has played well and is replaced by David McGoldrick. Stefan Ilsanker takes the spot of Kevin Wimmer for Austria.
76 min Austria probe slowly, but can’t break the Irish down. A couple of changes on the way...
73 min Baumgartlinger cuts down Hoolahan and that could easily have been a second yellow card in the space of a couple of minutes. The players in green are letting the referee know just that, but Baumgartlinger gets away with it.
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71 min Brady whips a deep free-kick towards Duffy, who fouls the goalkeeper Özcan as he goes for the challenge. At the other end, Baumgartlinger fouls Arter and lets the Irish midfielder have some harsh words afterwards. The yellow card is out, and again a moment later for Brady after he kicks the ball away. Both will miss their next match – Ireland’s is against Wales.
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68 min Arnautovic tries a little one-two with Alaba on the edge of the box but the latter spoons the ball up in the air and the former concedes a free-kick trying to win it back.
“It is quite encouraging to see Ireland continuing to push forward even though they are up 1-0,” emails JR. “For the uninitiated that’s the exact opposite of what they usually do after taking a lead.”
63 min After a period of pretty chaotic defending by Austria over the past 20 minutes when they were put under an awful lot of pressure, Marcel Koller might be relieved to be only one goal behind. His side are reasserting the control they showed in the first half and a long passing move ends with Alaba cracking a shot from range, which flutters the top of Randolph’s net.
61 min Alaba tries a knuckleball effort but sets it way wide from the start, and it never comes back.
60 min Brady clatters Schaub 30 yards from the Irish goal. That was fairly pointless from Brady’s perspective, and he has handed David Alaba a chance from a free-kick, albeit quite a way out.
58 min Schaub makes his first mark on the game, getting a powerful shot away which is well-held by Randolph.
56 min Marcel Koller makes his first change, replacing Alessandro Schöpf with Louis Schaub.
54 min Marc Janko receives some treatment after another tussle with Shane Duffy.
52 min Austria are rocking here and Ireland need to take advantage. They have a corner but the referee gets his whistle out once again, this time to book Aleksandar Dragovic for some pushing and pulling before Brady can swing it in. Eventually the corner comes in and the ball breaks for Hoolahan who sets up McClean on the edge, but he is ushered wide and can’t hit the target.
50 min A second for Ireland? No, disallowed! Brady delivers a teasing free-kick from the right and Walters touches it home with his head, but he had started his run a fraction early and is correctly ruled offside.
Meyler pinched the ball from Wimmer in Ireland’s half, and the Austrian wasted time appealing rather than chasing back. He was made to pay as Meyler sparked a counterattack and found Hoolahan, who released McClean on the left unmarked. The winger drove into the box before setting himself and crashing a low shot under Özcan. A brilliant finish and that could be such an important goal in this group.
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GOAL! Austria 0-1 Republic of Ireland (McClean, 48)
A huge moment for the Irish!
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47 min Hoolahan pulls off a lovely first-time backheel in the box towards Walters, the sort of skill that seems well out of place in this game so far. Hinteregger manages to get a toe in and break up the move.
Kick-off
Peeeep! And Ireland get the second half a-rollin’.
Half-time entertainment
A few of these in the second half would be lovely.
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Half-time: Austria 0-0 Republic of Ireland
A stop-start half came to life in the final few minutes, but neither side managed to break the deadlock. All square at the break.
45 min Duffy is finally booked, the first yellow card of the match, and it is probably his most tame challenge of the piece.
43 min Crossbar, again! This one is at the other end and it is a glorious chance for the visitors. After some sustained pressure, Brady whips one of his dangerous low balls from the left and Jon Walters gets in unmarked, six yards out, to fire the chance over, grazing the woodwork on its way. He should have scored.
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41 min Austria’s best moments have come through Marko Arnautovic who has been the best player on the pitch by some margin in this first half. Martin O’Neill will be quietly pleased if his side can get to the break at 0-0.
39 min Crossbar! A lovely pass by Arnautovic slides Sabitzer into the box. From a tight angle the winger chips a wonderful shot over the onrushing Randolph and it floats against the bar. The rebound falls to Wimmer who squares it to Janko in the centre of the goal, two yards out, but Clark dives in to make a crucial challenge.
37 min Peep. Another foul. Oh, and another.
35 min I cannot remember seeing so many fouls in a half. It is not much fun to watch. The latest is by the substitute Meyler, who certainly should have been booked if only to send out a warning to the rest of the players to take it easy. However Sergei Karasev keeps his yellow card pocketed.
33 min Brilliant defending by Séamus Coleman! Arnautovic is sent through on goal and fires away a left-foot strike when the Irish captain slides in to make a crucial block. Replays showed that Arnautovic’s shot was actually terrible, and might have been heading closer to the corner flag than the goalmouth, but Coleman wasn’t to know.
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30 min Yet another foul. I can’t really blame referee Karasev, there have just been a lot silly challenges. This one allows Brady to swing in a ball from deep with his left foot, which Duffy glances on towards the far post but it’s a couple of yards wide.
27 min After a fast start by Austria, Republic of Ireland have settled into this one and are making it difficult for their hosts. For about the 15th time in this half, Janko and Duffy go for a 50-50 and for about the 14th time, the referee calls a foul. This time it is Janko who is a little late with his tackle.
25 min Alaba floats a high pass over the centre of Ireland’s defence. Duffy gets back to head it half-clear but Janko anticipates well and controls the ball on his chest on the edge of the box, before firing a volley over the bar under some pressure.
23 min Hull City’s David Meyler replaces Whelan, whose thigh is given some heavy strapping on the bench.
22 min Glenn Whelan is down on the turf in discomfort. The Stoke midfielder signals to the bench and his game looks to be over.
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20 min Arter swings in a lovely corner which arcs in towards the six-yard box, but Janko just does enough to put Shane Duffy off and Austria manage to scramble the ball clear.
19 min Arter gets his first few touches in space and spreads the play wide. Ireland are enjoying a little bit of possession and work the ball down the left where Jon Walters scraps his way to a corner.
17 min Lovely play by Arnautovic who disguises a long-range strike and instead feeds a cute pass to Sabitzer on the corner of the box. The Leipzig winger dinks a cross towards the towering Janko in the middle who beats Clark in the air to hook a looping header towards the crossbar, but Randolph back-tracks well and makes the save.
15 min The referee Sergei Karasev blows twice in quick succession for fouls by Shane Duffy, who has been a little too carefree with his elbows in the air. Pierluigi Collina will be taking note.
13 min Austria have been in charge but from nothing James McClean almost opens the scoring for Ireland. He pounces on a loose ball and turns to get a shot away from just outside the box, which deflects off Hinteregger and flies just past Özcan’s far post with the goalkeeper rooted to the spot.
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11 min Hendrick clocks Alaba a little unnecessarily in midfield and Austria will have a free-kick. The Bayern Munich man jumps up to swing in a ball himself, but it’s a touch overhit and an eager Randolph dashes out of goal to make the catch.
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9 min Sabitzer gets a low shot away from the corner but Randolph gets down to make a straightforward save. Austria are pretty dominant in these early stages.
7 min Hoolahan uses Baumgartlinger to propel himself into the air and concedes a foul in the centre circle. Austria work it down the right with Schöpf overlapping Klein and the winger curls in a dangerous cross, which Ciaran Clark heads clear for another corner.
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5 min Arnautovic dribbles across the pitch from right to left with a sense of urgency and shoots from 20 yards, but it’s blocked by a mass of green defenders.
3 min Jeff Hendrick is clattered deep in his own half and Ireland win a free-kick. They are yet to really get their collective foot on the ball.
“The referee is the Russian Sergei Karasev,” points out JR on email. “That’s not so interesting but what is interesting is that the referee assessor is Pierluigi Collina! Eh, that’s all I’ve got. Nervous about Ireland getting something from this one.”
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Kick-off!
A sharp peep of the whistle and this one is under way. Almost immediately Arnautovic scurries down the Austria left and his cross is cleared behind for a corner.
First blood to Ireland as Séamus Coleman schools Julian Baumgartlinger with a classic heads win at the coin toss.
It’s a 48,000 sell-out at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna, where the national anthems are in full swing.
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Martin O’Neill speaks! “It’s a big occasion for [Harry Arter]. He’s very excited and obviously a wee bit nervous. I’m expecting his impact over the next couple of season rather than anything else. I’m not expecting too much tonight. We have a plan which can change very, very quickly. We’ve got a couple of alternatives but overall the plan is to use the ball well and retrieve it quickly. A win would be very big indeed, winning away is big anywhere, and it would certainly make for a very vey nice Christmas, but we have a lot to overcome.”
Miss yesterday’s action? Here’s all you need to know:
Team news
So Jon Walters leads the Irish line in the absence of the injured Shane Long and Daryl Murphy. Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter is handed his first competitive start by Martin O’Neill, while the exciting Dundalk winger Daryl Horgan could come off the bench to make his international debut. Austria coach Marcel Koller names David Alaba in midfield after rumours that he was considering dropping the 24-year-old back into defence to steady their shaky back-line. Marko Arnautovic will start on the left with Basel’s 33-year-old Marc Janko making his 60th appearance for Austria up front.
The teams!
Austria: Özcan; Klein, Dragovic, Hinteregger, Wimmer; Baumgartlinger, Alaba (c), Sabitzer, Schöpf, Arnautovic; Janko
Subs: Harnik, Madl, Linder, Strangl, Ilsanker, Lukse, Suttner, Schaub, Junuzovic, Hinterseer, Gregoritsch, Lazaro, Onisiwo
Republic of Ireland: Randolph; Coleman (c), Clark, Duffy, Brady; Whelan, Hendrick, Arter, Hoolahan, McClean; Walters
Subs: Westwood, Doyle, O’Shea, Keogh, McGeady, McGoldrick, Horgan, Doyle, Meyler, McShane, O’Dowda, Pearce
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Harry Arter will start for Republic of Ireland. Teams coming up...
Preamble
In what is an often uninspiring qualifying format, the balance of power in group D offers some genuine intrigue. Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Wales and Austria are in the hunt for the one automatic qualifying spot and runner-up play-off place, so two will miss out altogether. It will likely go to the wire so slips like Wales’s home draw with Georgia last month could prove costly. Tonight will be telling: as strugglers Georgia and Moldova play each other, the four serious contenders collide.
It has all gone according to plan for Republic of Ireland so far, collecting a draw in Serbia and six points from the two minnows. Ireland’s seven-point haul is matched by Serbia at the top of the group, while Wales have five and Austria four. Austria’s 3-2 defeat to Serbia last time out in Belgrade, courtesy of a late Dusan Tadic strike, has left them under pressure – a slip tonight could leave them six points off the pace.
But Austria start against Ireland as the favourites. They haven’t lost a competitive match at home for more than four years, a 2-1 loss to Germany in September 2012. Since then they have played 10, winning eight and drawing two with only four goals conceded; one of those wins was against Ireland in World Cup 2014 qualification when David Alaba scored the winner. To make matters harder, Martin O’Neill is attempting to break Austria’s streak without his first or second choice strikers, with Shane Long and Daryl Murphy both injured. Jonathan Walters could be the man to lead the line.
Then again in Bournemouth’s Harry Arter, who is set to make his competitive debut, and Dundalk’s Daryl Horgan, Ireland carry threat from midfield and their seems a continued spirit within the current squad which served them well in Euro 2016. Austria arrive on a low after that Serbia defeat, and it has been a rocky start to the campaign for a side who fluffed their lines in France over the summer. A defeat tonight in Vienna is not fatal for either side but it will leave Austria, in particular, with an awful lot to do to reach Russia.
Kick-off: 5pm GMT
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