Nations League overview: Norway’s Martin Ødegaard injured | Nations League

Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard left the pitch in tears after being injured in Norway’s 2-1 victory over Austria on Monday night. The 25-year-old injured his ankle in the second half of the Nations League match and had to be helped off the field after being substituted in the 67th minute.

Ødegaard is still a doubt for the north London derby at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon, when Arsenal will be without suspended midfielder Declan Rice.

“Martin’s injury looked bad in the dressing room,” Norway’s coach, Ståle Solbakken, told Norwegian TV2. “I saw him with the physiotherapists around him, but he had no chance to continue and we know it was an ankle sprain.”

The team doctor, Ola Sand, said: “Yes, it is a sprain, and as those of us who have played football know, with a bit of luck it can be fine if the ligaments are not torn. We’ll see, maybe we’ll use ultrasound to look at it. If we’re not sure, there will be an MRI tomorrow.”

When Ødegaard left the field, Norway were level at 1-1 in their Group B3 clash with Ralf Rangnick’s Austria in Oslo, but Manchester City’s Erling Haaland struck the winner for the hosts with 10 minutes remaining. The strike moves him just two goals behind Jorgen Juve’s record of 33 goals for Norway.

Norway are now level on points at the top of their group with Sloveniawho easily recorded a 3-0 home win over Kazakhstanthanks to a hat-trick from RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko.

In Lyon, Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne was furious after France overcame a slow start to beat the neighbours Belgium 2-0 as Randal Kolo Muani’s close-range strike and Ousmane Dembélé’s left-footed effort gave France their first points of the Nations League campaign. It was a positive response from Didier Deschamps’ side, who made eight changes to their starting XI, including Kylian Mbappé, after being beaten 3-1 by Italy in their opening Group A2 match in Paris last Friday.

But De Bruyne, visibly frustrated during the match, went on a rampage with his teammates after the game, telling Belgian VTM television that too much had gone wrong. “I can’t say here what went wrong. I did that to the team during half-time,” he said. “I can’t repeat that in the media, but we have to improve on all fronts. If the standard we want to achieve is the best, but we’re no longer good enough to achieve that level, then you have to give everything. If you don’t, it’s over.

“We have too many in the back. If you keep six in the back, there is no connection. It is what it is. It is not about transition, it is about people not doing their jobs.”

Kolo Muani gave France the lead in the 29th minute after Belgian goalkeeper Koen Casteels made a one-handed save from Dembélé’s shot, straight at the Paris Saint-Germain striker. Dembélé always looked dangerous and got his reward in the 57th minute when he sidestepped along the edge of the Belgian penalty area before finding space to fire a superb shot past Casteels.

Mbappe was brought on in the 67th along with Bradley Barcola, whose move from Lyon to PSG last season has not been forgotten and who was booed by the locals. Mbappe looked good as he tried to add his name to the scoreboard but narrowly missed from a difficult angle 10 minutes from time and saw an effort saved by Casteels in the 86th minute.

Italy won the other match in Group A2 2-1 against Israel in Budapest to open up a three-point lead in the standings. Davide Frattesi and former Everton striker Moise Kean secured a 2-1 victory for Luciano Spalletti’s side. Frattesi gave the Azure Blue took the lead before half-time when he chested the ball in and Kean converted it after an hour with a rebound: 2-0.

Israel took the lead in the 90th minute through Mohammad Abu Fani, who netted from the edge of the penalty area after the home team, who were playing the match in Budapest for security reasons, were awarded a free kick.

A hat-trick from Benfica winger Kerem Akturkoglu saw Turkey level with Wales in Group B4 with a 3-1 home win over IcelandWales continued their strong start under new manager Craig Bellamy with a 2-1 win in Montenegro.

Romania made it a perfect start in Group C2 with their second win from two games, by Lithuania 3-1 at home. In the same pool, Kosovo went to Cyprus and defeated their hosts 4-0.