Norway squandered two crucial points in EC qualifiers as their away leg against Georgia ended 1-1 on Tuesday night. Norway led 1-0 and had the flow of the game, but a defensive error earned Georgia an equaliser.

– Really annoyed

After the match ended, a special situation arose on the field in Batumi. Center back Stefan Strandberg was clearly irritated and angry, and it looked like more than just fellow stoppers Leo Østigård and Sander Berge, who stood by his side.

– Strandberg apparently got very upset at Leo Skiri Østigård and/or Sander Berge after the game ended, wrote TV commentator Petter Veland’s profile on Twitter after the game.

After the game, there was little willingness on the part of the players to tell what was said.

– Between him and me

Stefan Strandberg is silent.

– There’s something between him and me. But it’s nothing personal to Leo, of course not, Strandberg told NRK.

When Østigård was asked if his argument was about back-to-back goals, he denied that it had anything to do with the case.

– That’s not the situation. That’s something completely different, says Østigård.

– What?

– I don’t need to say that.

Ståle Solbakken also didn’t want to explain the process, and said in the interview zone that he didn’t understand it yet.

Sander Berge, who stood up just as Strandberg was being cursed at, replied curtly:

– There’s always a bit of frustration when you don’t win games like that.

There’s also the frustration that the win is missing.

– It’s the kids’ fault, and we can’t make a mistake like that in the EC qualifiers. Then it will be difficult to win the title, sadly said NRK football pundit Carl Erik Torp.

He was one of several experts to criticize defensive play in Norway’s only goal from behind.

Leo Østigård miscalculated and lost the duel after a long game, and partner stopper Stefan Strandberg didn’t provide enough cover, meaning that Georges Mikautadze was able to advance alone with Ørjan Nyland and the score was 1-1.

– People are welcome to offer criticism, to unite the struggle, and I feel like this is going well. We could have done something different with a late goal. We and those behind were the first to see it. We know more about football than those who sit at home and write on Twitter, Strandberg told NRK.

He was defended by national team manager Ståle Solbakken, who believed the criticism was unjustified.

– No, Stefan had two solid games. Stefan means a lot to this team here. She gets into a sticky situation when Leo mistimes her there. I am very happy with Stefan, he told NRK.

TV 2 pundit Jesper Mathisen described it as Strandberg getting a parking ticket for Georgia’s score.

– There we see Strandberg’s big weakness. If you don’t have enough speed in your skates, you’ll only go faster, says Mathisen.

– Know that our plugs are tired of the phrase “we have a plug problem”. But the score unfortunately shows that we have a stoppage problem, wrote football pundit and former national team assistant Lars Tjærnås on Twitter after the 1-1.

– On the NRK front, Leo Østigård explained the purpose of the lag as follows:

– I follow the man I have and I try to be close in those duels. Then he got lucky that… I don’t know if he even touched the ball, but it just bounced, and it shouldn’t have happened, what happened after there. Too bad, he insisted.

– Sthe top game in those situations came under a lot of criticism. Do you feel it is justified?

– We conceded goals, and that’s not good enough, of course. But like I said, we should have finished this sooner. This is crazy. But that’s how it is, replied the Napoli player.

– Very disappointed

– We are very disappointed, Ståle Solbakken told NRK after the match.

Norway took the lead before the break with Alexander Sørloth, but confounded it with a weak second half. Thus, Solbakken’s squad stands on one point after two matches in the EC qualifiers.

– We put in a good performance again, at least for most of the game. The first half was phenomenal. We conceded goals we shouldn’t have conceded, it became too easy. “We can keep it at bay if we score some of our good chances.”

– Hardly what you think

The Norwegian’s feeling that Martin Ødegaard missed a great chance from five meters a quarter hour from the end couldn’t have been bettered. It’s not a Norwegian night.

– It’s not nearly what you think. You can’t get anywhere near a hundred percent chance of that, says Carl-Erik Torp.

The Norwegian captain held his head in his hands after the loss, understandably so.

– I feel we have lost two points. We should have been behind by three points. There’s a lot about the team here that I like. But it will be an “almost national team” again. It will soon be making headlines again. We messed it up a bit, is the verdict from Torp.

Match scorer Alexander was also very disappointed after the points were distributed.

– I’m more disappointed now than after the game against Spain. Today we will have three points, he told TV 2 and continued:

– We will score more than one goal today.

But to put the point against the strong Georgians at home into perspective:

In the previous EC qualifier, Georgia held Denmark and Ireland 0-0 at home, while in the previous WC qualifier they beat Sweden 2-0 at home. They are far from easy opponents when they play on their own turf.

As you know, the two best teams in the group are headed straight for the European Championship in Germany 2024, and the point is, in a sense, a baby step in the right direction for Ståle Solbakken, who admits to feeling the pressure before the game. .

Sandstorm and Sørloth scores

The start of the battle was marked by a watery sandstorm that suddenly exploded over Batumi. From a fine warm spring day, the weather changed suddenly before the start of the match, and the players seemed distracted by the dust flying in the air.

In such demanding weather, Norway opened the game in the best possible way and took the lead after a quarter of an hour with a huge lead in terms of play.

The long ball ended up with Fredrik Aursnes, who with one touch played the ball to Alexander Sørloth. The La Liga striker rode on a merry-go-round with a Georgian defense that looked like a Samurai safety and thrashed 1-0 from 20 meters. Beautiful score by trønder.

– It was superbly done, a one man performance, said NRK expert Carl-Erik Torp of the score.

-Haaland who? asked the Scottish Daily Record rhetorically. Scotland naturally followed the game closely as they were in the same group.

Pass dad

Alexander Sørloth (16 goals) thus overtook Gøran’s father (15 goals) in the list of top scorers. Of the Norwegian national team strikers with more than 15 international goals since 1990, only Haaland has a higher scoring percentage:

After more than half an hour, Norway should have increased their advantage.

Aursnes with a big bang

Ola Solbakken skirted two Georgia defenders, cut into the box and sent a fine 45-degree pass to Mohamed Elyounoussi, who shot straight at the keeper before the ball fell again to Fredrik Aursnes.

Unfortunately for Norway, the Benfica pros shot above 100 per cent chances.

Georgia took over for more towards the end of the half but it was fully deserved with Norway leading at the break.

The second half opened with Georgia in the lead, and it took just a quarter of an hour before an equalizer became a reality when Georges Mikautadze was able to run alone with Ørjan Nyland. There he made no mistake and scored 1-1.

20 minutes from the end, Norway almost took the lead. Aursnes’ effort was blocked, but the ball ended up with Sørloth five meters out. Unfortunately for Norway, his shot was saved by Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.

It didn’t get any better when Martin Ødegaard had a great chance after, but his shot from between the goals from five meters was high.

Six minutes into extra time, the Norwegian players called for a penalty after a possible handball, but after a VAR check, the referee resumed play.

Thus the match ended 1-1. And Norway has taken its first point in EC qualifying.

Towards the end of November we will know if there should be three.