Georgia and Norway share spoils as Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard pays price for bad miss

Georgia and Norway shared the spoils in their Euro 2024 qualifier.
Georgia's players celebrate their equaliser.Georgia's players celebrate their equaliser.
Georgia's players celebrate their equaliser.

The two teams – who are in Group A, the same group as Scotland – cancelled each other out in a competitive match at the Batumi Stadium. The Norwegians took the lead on 15 minutes when RB Leipzig forward Alexander Sorloth lashed home following good work from Fredrik Aursnes, but the Georgians regrouped after the break and got a deserved leveller on 61 minutes when Georges Mikautadze latched on to a long ball from Nika Kvekveskiri and showed good composure to fire past Orjan Nyland.

Norway spurned an excellent chance to win the match in the closing stages when captain and Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard shot wildly over the bar from eight yards, while they also had a stoppage-time claim for a penalty waved away after a VAR check.

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The draw in Batumi means that Norway are on one point from two matches following Saturday’s 3-0 defeat by Spain in Zaragoza. Their next match is against Scotland in Oslo on Saturday, June 17, when they will hope to have star striker Erling Haaland back after the Manchester City player missed this international break due to injury.

Alexander Sorloth opened the scoring for Norway against Georgia.Alexander Sorloth opened the scoring for Norway against Georgia.
Alexander Sorloth opened the scoring for Norway against Georgia.

This was Georgia’s first match in the group after sitting the weekend out and will view this as a good point against the third seeds in the pool. They head to Nicosia in June to play Cyprus in June before travelling to Hampden three days later on Tuesday, June 20 to take on Scotland.