Norway's night to forget

By Thore-Erik Thoresen at Ullevål stadium

Whistles and boos greeted the final whistle in Oslo's Ullevål stadium after Norway failed to make their possession count in a 1-1 draw with Belarus.

Pegged back
Leading through Vidar Riseth's first-half goal, Åge Hareide's side were pegged back by an equaliser from Vitali Kutuzov with 12 minutes left to play. Following their 2-1 defeat in Italy on Saturday, Norway now have just one point from their opening two matches in Group 5.

Riseth scores
Norway dominated possession but failed to ask too many questions of the Belarus goalkeeper, Vasili Khomutovsky. The sell-out crowd did have something to celebrate, however, when Riseth opened the scoring six minutes before the break. The central defender struck from close range following a corner by Norway captain Martin Andresen.

Pedersen miss
Norway had several chances to extend their lead, notably one glorious opportunity which fell to Morten Gamst Pedersen but he failed to celebrate his 23rd birthday with a goal.

The equaliser
Belarus showed a more adventurous approach after the break yet created few opportunities before Kutuzov's equaliser - a header which followed a free-kick from Maksim Romashchenko. In the end they owed the point to their solid defending and a little bit of luck too.

'Nightmare'
Norway attacked relentlessly in the closing minutes and were a whisker away from scoring in the final minute when Claus Lundekvam headed past the goalkeeper from close range but over the crossbar. Belarus will be delighted to have started their qualifying campaign with a point but for Hareide and company, there will be fewer positives to take from an evening Norway coach Hareide described succinctly as "a nightmare".