Ireland's Troy Parrott stars with superb two-goal showing against Austria

[p]The forward earned a Flashscore rating of 9.1 and the Player of the Match award. Despite taking a 2-0 lead, Ireland [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/austria-naHiWdnt/ireland-Gfyqk1aG/?mid=lUmO9MDt"]eventually drew 2-2 against the Austrians[/a] in the Nations League.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/parrott-troy/K6H9Uptn/"]Parrott[/a] produced the game's first big moment in the 12th minute. Following a long clearance from goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, the ball reached the attacking half, where it was claimed by the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/betis/vJbTeCGP/"]Real Betis[/a] forward. He was surrounded by four opposition defenders.[/p][infobox id="c5ce5f5a-ccb6-468f-9fce-bb4a330c372a" /][p]He looked up, saw virtually no support from his teammates and decided to take matters into his own hands. Remarkably, he produced a superb solo run.[/p][p][b]Parrott first nutmegged one of the defenders, then left another trailing with a cut inside before getting his shot away. He turned the Austrian defence into a slalom course that would have done any number of Alpine ski resorts proud, and coolly finished the move with a goal. [/b][/p][p]Ireland led 1-0, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/plzen/2LA0e86b/"]Viktoria Plzen[/a] goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wiegele-florian/4S959aaD/"]Florian Wiegele[/a] could do nothing about it. He had also been embarrassingly beaten through the legs by Parrott's well-placed finish.[/p][embed guid="d5041d8a-4454-4d99-989c-cfd4ffb7930f" url="https://x.com/DAZN_DE/status/2105750586683498870" social-type="twitter" /][p]Parrott added a second goal from the penalty spot just before half-time, and the hosts were in control for much of the match in Dublin. Austria managed to wipe out the deficit in the second half, however, and took a point home with a 2-2 draw.[/p][h2]High xG and excellent dribbling[/h2][p][b]The striker's performance is also well illustrated by his advanced statistics. The former [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/az-alkmaar/2RxOow1i/"]AZ Alkmaar[/a] star recorded an xG (expected goals) of 1.35 in 75 minutes on the pitch, including the penalty. [/b][/p][p]Among out-and-out strikers in the top-tier Divisions A and B of the current Nations League campaign, only Norway's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/haaland-erling/UmV9iQmE/"]Erling Haaland[/a] and Kosovo's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/muriqi-vedat/CjwNDgqi/"]Vedat Muriqi[/a] have reached a higher figure.[/p][p]The player, who also scored against Czechia in the World Cup play-off, was equally impressive in one-on-one situations.[b] Parrott attempted four dribbles and completed every one of them. No centre-forward has done better so far, again in the current Divisions A and B.[/b][/p][image alt="Parrott used his dribbling in various areas of the pitch." id="1cf87463-b77d-47f5-beac-1e9c2c4d6286" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="d47331d8-52e8-4216-8b1e-7d01099a62de" original-width="768" original-height="576" /][p]In Austria's penalty area, Parrott had seven touches of the ball and got three shots away. He also created one shooting chance for a teammate worth 0.18 xA (expected assists).[/p][h2]More than just a finisher[/h2][p]The Irishman was also active in duels. [b]He won seven of his nine ground duels and also prevailed in two of three aerial challenges, [/b]giving him an overall success rate of 75%.[/p][image alt="Parrott vs Austria" id="b4444106-b01a-45c7-b275-e59ff471e339" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="72dc829e-c651-438e-ad81-b35ae817f611" original-width="2160" original-height="2702" /][p]He also posted solid numbers in possession. Twenty of his 23 passes found a teammate, giving him an 87% completion rate. He was even more accurate in the attacking third, with nine of his 10 attempts finding their intended target.[/p][p]When he was substituted in the 75th minute, Ireland still led 2-1. Austria struck shortly afterwards. For Parrott, however, it was an outstanding individual performance.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/austria-naHiWdnt/ireland-Gfyqk1aG/?mid=lUmO9MDt"]See the full match stats with Flashscore[/a][/b][/p][infobox id="5a8fbd57-e97c-4bdc-9f6b-fb0fb254e893" /]