Erling Haaland is criticised after snubbing questions following Norway’s 5-1 thrashing by Austria – before Man City star posts social media apology

Erling Haaland posted an apology on social media after Norway was put to the sword by Austria on Sunday.

With captain Martin Odegaard still unavailable following an injury during the last international break, Haaland was handed the armband as Stale Solbakken’s side looked to continue their unbeaten start in the Nations League.

After Marko Arnautovic opened the scoring for the hosts, Norway responded well and Alexander Sorloth equalized before half-time.

However, when Arnautovic restored Austria’s lead shortly after the break, the visitors completely collapsed and goals from Philipp Lienhart, Stefan Posch and Michael Gregoritsch secured a 5–1 victory.

After the match, Haaland was approached by members of the Norwegian press as he prepared to leave the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz.

Rather than face the music, the Manchester City star ignored their requests for comment before later apologizing for his team’s lackluster performance on social media.

‘Sorry everyone, this was a lot of shame on my part.

‘We are aiming for six points in November.’ Haaland wrote on his Instagram story.

His decision was backed by his Norwegian teammate Sander Berge, who insisted the team remains united despite suffering their heaviest defeat since a 6-0 thrashing against Germany in 2017.

“He has every right to do that.” The Fulham midfielder told the Norwegian outlet VG.

‘You feel the disappointment now. We are a team in this, we face ups and downs no matter what. The most important thing is that we are united.’

Despite the defeat, Norway remains top of the Nations League group, but is now level with both Austria and Slovenia.

The Lions wrap up their campaign when they travel to Slovenia before hosting Kazakhstan next month.