Omoijuanfo’s first goal for Norway foils Irish
Substitute Ohi Omoijuanfo made light of Erling Haaland's absence as Norway struck late to beat the Republic of Ireland 2-1 in Dublin last night.
Omoijuanfo snatched the visitors victory with his first senior international goal at the Aviva Stadium after Alan Browne had cancelled out Leo Ostigard's opener.
It was a kick in the teeth for Stephen Kenny's men, who had rallied after a pedestrian first half to look the team more likely to win the game after the break.
They will head for Malta on Sunday knowing there are issues to address before they open their Euro 2024 campaign in March with a daunting fixture against France.
"I thought first half, we were a bit flat. There was no real zip to our game. We were playing around the back at times and didn't really break their press,” said Browne at full-time.
"But it's tough against any team when they just sit in, they're compact and you have to try to get around the sides of them. They nullified us really well.
"Second half, we came out definitely the stronger of the two teams and it's obviously disappointing to lose the game. It just fell to the player in the box, which is unfortunate. Conceding from two set-pieces is really poor."
Norway enjoyed the better of the early exchanges with Arsenal's Martin Odegaard pulling the strings. But manager Stale Solbakken will have been disappointed with the way they wilted in the face of the Irish riposte before Omoijuanfo's late intervention, with testing trips to Spain and Georgia awaiting them next year.