Erling Haaland scores but Norway loses to Scotland in Euro qualifying
Erling Haaland scored on his return to Norway, but it wasn’t enough to secure a victory, as Scotland came back to win 2-1 on Saturday and keep a perfect record in qualifying for next year’s European Championship.
Haaland opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 61st minute, but Scotland seized the lead with two goals in two minutes when he was later substituted.
Haaland was brought down by defender Ryan Porteous as they vied to meet an incoming cross from Alexander Sorloth. Haaland hit the resulting penalty hard into the bottom left corner for his first goal in six games for club and country since his 35th English Premier League goal against Everton on May 14.
Norway coach Stale Solbakken took off Haaland in the 84th and Scotland scored three minutes later. Defender Leo Skiri Østigård tried to intercept a Scottish pass, but his touch was heavy and Lyndon Dykes hit the loose ball past goalkeeper Orjan Nyland. Two minutes after that, Scotland took the lead when Dykes passed for substitute Kenny McLean to score his first Scotland goal since 2019.
Defeat dealt a heavy blow to Norway’s chances of qualifying from Group A after the team stumbled with one point from its first two games when Haaland was injured in March. It was his first international game since September.
Scotland is the group leader with nine points as it aims to qualify for back-to-back European Championships for the first time since 1996. Spain has three points from two games, including a loss to Scotland, and did not play on Saturday. The other two teams, Cyprus and Georgia, played late Saturday.
In other qualifying groups, Cristiano Ronaldo could play his 199th game for Portugal against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Belgium faces Austria.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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