Scotland 1-0 Austria: Hosts progress in World Cup play-offs after Abi Harrison's extra-time winner at Hampden Park
Match report as Scotland beat Austria 1-0; victory sets up a second-round play-off with Republic of Ireland at Hampden Park on Tuesday; substitute Abi Harrison scored the extra-time winner in front of a record crowd of 10,182 in Glasgow
Friday 7 October 2022 13:25, UK
Substitute Abi Harrison sent Scotland one step closer to the Women's World Cup finals with an extra-time winner against Austria.
Bristol City forward Harrison headed home Erin Cuthbert's corner from six yards in the 92nd minute of the first-round play-off in front of a record crowd of 10,182 at Hampden and Scotland held on for a 1-0 victory.
"We have spoken about inspiring and I hope people felt that today," said Scotland head coach Pedro Martinez Losa. "We believed in what we were doing."
The win sets up another Hampden clash next Tuesday against the Republic of Ireland in one of three European second-round play-offs.
- How the teams lined up | Match stats
- Download the Sky Sports App | Get Sky Sports
- In full: WSL 2022/23 fixtures
"The mental strength helped us find the result against a very difficult opponent," added the Scotland head coach. "We know Republic of Ireland well. It's time to rest first, recover players and get the energy again and go."
The two top-ranked winners - based on their record in the qualifying groups - will go into next year's finals in Australia and New Zealand. The other will enter a 10-team intercontinental tournament which will supply the final three qualifying teams.
Lee Gibson made an early save right on her line as Austria forced several corners, but the Scotland goalkeeper was rarely troubled.
Centre-forward Martha Thomas had a sniff of goal at the other end following Samantha Kerr's ball down the channel, but she slipped as the goalkeeper came out to challenge and Scotland midfielder Caroline Weir saw a volley held.
Torrential rain was making play difficult though, and Scotland's final ball was not good enough when they had a spell of pressure around the half-hour mark.
The closest either side came in the first half was when Julia Hickelsberger grazed the Scotland bar from 20 yards.
The second half was also a tight affair. Austria were not afraid to try their luck from long range but rarely hit the target.
Scotland caused some problems with high balls and one produced their best second-half chance after the visiting goalkeeper punched half clear. Claire Emslie crossed, but substitute Fiona Brown headed over from 12 yards.
Austria substitute Katja Wienerroither had two chances late in regulation time but shot wide each time.
Harrison showed the way to goal when she rose well to meet Cuthbert's inviting delivery and the biggest scare Scotland had was when Barbara Dunst beat Nicola Docherty inside the box only to shoot over.
Scotland captain Rachel Corsie: "We knew they would make it difficult. The conditions didn't make it easy. The pitch was soft. We managed the game fairly well for the most part. Abi changed the game, she was excellent. She deserved the goal."
