Austria avoid a spot of bother

Austria missed two penalties and were 2-0 down at one stage, but eventually secured a 2-2 draw in Albania to take the outright lead of 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying Group 10.

Syjak strike
Andreas Herzog's side sat top of their section alongside Scotland and Belarus on nine points prior to kick-off, but are now in sole command, at least until Scotland travel to Azerbaijan on Saturday. Their prospects of being in pole position come the end of the weekend took a turn for the worse after 20 minutes when, after a sloppy clearance, Erando Karabeci's free-kick landed at Arsen Syjak's feet. He made no mistake from six metres out.

Penalty misses
Sykaj looked to have turned from hero to villain two minutes before half-time but, having felled Christian Ramsebner to hand Austria a penalty, he could breathe a sigh of relief when Veli Kavlak shot wide. Odise Roshi salted Austria's wounds five minutes into the second half with a powerful shot that beat Lukas Königshofer. The visitors hit back within two minutes when Kavlak's shot was deflected into his own net by Klodian Samina. Shpetim Mocka then saved superbly to deny Austria – Julian Baumgartlinger on this occasion – for a second time from the spot, but Julius Perstaller struck from close range with eleven minutes remaining to finally level matters.