Austria and Kazakhstan end with stalemate

Austria finished fourth in Group A after being frustrated by Miroslav Beranek's charges in Astana.

After overcoming Azerbaijan 4-1 on Friday, the visitors were hoping to finish their campaign with a flourish. Willibald Ruttensteiner's side created numerous chances, but they were perhaps fortunate to gain even a point after Sergei Ostapenko struck the bar in the second half.

In the first half there was little to choose between two sides whose UEFA EURO 2012 aspirations had long since evaporated and, save for early efforts from distance by Austria's David Alaba, Andreas Ivanschitz and Ekrem Dağ, goalscoring chances were at a premium.

Austria began the second period with more gusto, Andrei Sidelnikov saving Alaba's cross-shot and Marko Arnautović racing into the penalty area only to rifle wide on the hour. But it was Ostapenko who squandered the best chance of the match, on 74 minutes, rising to head Mark Gurman's right-wing cross against the bar.

The UEFA EURO 2008 co-hosts came back at Kazakhstan, Veli Kavlak testing Sidelnikov from distance before the FC Aktobe goalkeeper denied Kavlak again and Sebastian Prödl moments later. At the other end Pascal Grünwald was briefly called into action to save Marat Khairullin's shot on the turn, but the match ended with Austria on the front foot, Marc Janko's drilled effort well saved by the excellent Sidelnikov just before the final whistle.