A hat-trick from Ada Hegerberg, a debut goal and a goal from Isabell Herlovsen meant Norway took all three points against battling Israel side. 

First half dominance

Truth be told first half was nothing to write home about. Norway had most of the possession and the chances, but the chances were far and in between and Norway lacked something in their passes and in intensity. However, they were the ones who were clearly on top, and 31 dangerous attacks to Israel's two proved as much in the first half.

However only four of those resulted in an attempt on target. Norway’s first shot came courtesy of Ada Hegerberg. The Norwegian forward, who recently won UEFA's award as the best player in Europe, was free in the box but her header was a few inches over the top of the bar. On several occasions Norway's attacks looked promising but Israel’s defence, which consisted of most of their players, were proving adept at cutting out the service before it could reach the destination.

If it wasn't their back-line, the Israeli goalkeeper, Merav Shamir would come and claim the ball. Shamir was also involved in the most controversial moment of the game, when Isabell Herlovsen received a ball in behind the Israeli defence and looked to have broken free, when Shamir came out and clearly took her down way out of her own area.

The referee only judged it to be a yellow card offence, and the following free kick was wasted by Andrine Hegerberg, who despite this had looked good for most of the first half. 35 minutes into the game Shamir was forced into her first real save, when a ball from Caroline Graham Hansen found Herlovsen, whose excellent header was brilliantly saved by the Israeli.

Norway did eventually find the back of the net at the end of the first half, when Graham Hansen’s pass found the run of Kristine Minde down the right. Minde delivered an inch perfect cross, which Hegerberg powered home; 1-0 was also the score at half time.

Ada Hegerberg was, once again, at the center of attention. Here she is pictured in the game against Kazakhstan.
Ada Hegerberg was, once again, at the center of attention. Here she is pictured in the game against Kazakhstan.

Norway kick it up a notch

The second half had barely begun when Hegerberg netted again. Three minutes into the half another Minde cross from the right was met by Hegerberg, who once against slotted it home; this was starting to look like the game most had predicted. Just four minutes later Hegerberg completed her hat trick when she had a completely open net at her mercy after Shamir collided with one of her own defenders.

After this both Graham Hansen and Andrine Tomter had good chances to make it 4-0, but neither could finish things off. In the 65th minute Arna-Bjørnar's Vilde Bøe Risa and Amalie Eikeland entered the pitch to make their senior debuts. The former didn’t take long until she had left her mark on the game.

After five minutes Bøe Risa scored a peach of a goal from a tight angle to finally grab the fourth. Just a few minutes later she tried again, but this time the defender deflected it out for a corner. Eikeland also wanted to join the party, but her shot was blocked away by a team mate. The final goal of the game came when Herlovsen scored from just outside the edge of the area to wrap up a comfortable 5-0 win.

Norway end the qualifying tournament as group winners, with their only loss of points coming in a 2-2 draw with Austria. Those two goals are also the only ones they have conceded, scoring 29 in the process. Israel end the campaign in last place, and their two points have come from draws with Kazakhstan and Wales

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