Ohi Omoijuanfo snatches late victory for Norway against Republic of Ireland

Substitute Ohi Omoijuanfo made light of Erling Haaland’s absence as Norway struck late to beat the Republic of Ireland 2-1 in Dublin.

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.

Norway enjoyed the better of the early exchanges with Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard pulling the strings impressively.

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.

With Cardiff’s Callum O’Dowda lining up in an unaccustomed left wing-back role, Ireland started confidently to push Norway back into their own half, and Callum Robinson fired wide from distance with less than three minutes played.

The visitors responded with Mohamed Elyounoussi causing problems, and the Southampton midfielder blazed a sixth-minute attempt high over.

Skipper John Egan had to be at his best to block Elyounoussi’s 22nd-minute shot after the wide man had been played in behind Nathan Collins and Patrick Berg blazed over from Odegaard’s cross at the resulting corner.

Jorgen Strand Larsen fired wastefully over and goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu was troubled by Odegaard’s speculative free-kick with the Republic rather losing their way.

The home side enjoyed a let-off when Elyounoussi