UEFA Nations League: Austria hold France, Croatia ends Denmark’s winning streak
Austria went second in Group A1 but could not hold on for victory as fourth-placed France hit back in the closing stages through Kylian Mbappé to secure their second point of the campaign.
Austria had demonstrated their ability to punish generosity in their 3-0 win in Croatia, and Andreas Weimann pounced when he was afforded space in front of goal, slotting in Konrad Laimer’s incisive 37th-minute cross after Marko Arnautović’s trickery.
Karim Benzema came closest for France in the first half, repeatedly testing Patrick Pentz, who produced a superb reflex save to paw the Real Madrid top scorer’s header off the line.
France captain Hugo Lloris had warned that his side were under pressure after taking one point from their opening two group games. Kingsley Coman looked certain to ease the holders’ frustration during a gripping second half, only to curl a shot over the crossbar from close range after fashioning space inside the penalty area.
With his side dominating possession but struggling to unpick a determined home defence, Bleus boss Didier Deschamps replaced Antoine Griezmann with Mbappé shortly after the hour mark.The substitute rewarded the decision with seven minutes remaining, gliding on to Christopher Nkunku’s perceptive pass before racing inside the penalty area and lashing a finish past Pentz at the goalkeeper’s near post.
The holders pushed for a winner, Pentz turning Mbappé’s strike onto the woodwork. Austria held on for a deserved point, moving two behind section leaders Denmark.
Mario Pašalić scored the only goal as Croatia ended Denmark’s run of six successive home victories in Copenhagen.
Denmark had the better of the first half but the closest they came was a Joakim Mæhle shot into the side-netting and an Andreas Cornelius effort kept out by Dominik Livaković.
Croatia made three changes at the break to try and inject some life into their performance, and one of the substitutes, Luka Modrić, tested Kasper Schmeichel from outside the box.
Modrić was also involved in what proved to be the only goal of the evening, his pass setting up Brozović to cross, and after a couple of deflections it fell for Pašalić to poke in.
Denmark pushed men forward but still struggled to test Livaković as their winning run at home came to an end.
