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

With captain Martin Odegaard still unavailable after suffering 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.

Norway suffered their worst defeat in seven years as they were thrashed 5-1 by Austria on Sunday

Erling Haaland captained the visitors, with usual skipper Martin Odegaard still unavailable through injury

Alexander Sorloth tied the score before halftime, demonstrating Norway’s strong response to the hosts’ goal from Marko Arnautovic.

But just after the half, Arnautovic gave Austria the lead again, and the visitors completely collapsed. Goals from Michael Gregoritsch, Stefan Posch, and Philipp Lienhart completed a 5-1 triumph.

As Haaland was about to leave the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz after the game, he was contacted by reporters from Norway.

Haaland opted not to answer questions from the Norwegian press as he left the stadium

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

Sorry everyone, this was far too bad on my part.

‘In November, we go for six points,’ Haaland wrote on his Instagram story.

His decision was supported by his Norway team-mate Sander Berge who insisted that the team remains united despite suffering their heaviest defeat since a 6-0 drubbing by Germany in 2017.

‘He has every right to do that,’ the Fulham midfielder told Norwegian outlet VG.

‘You can feel the disappointment now. We are a team in there, we stand in ups and downs regardless. The most important thing is that we are united.’

The 24-year-old issued an apology to fans on his Instagram story following the game

Despite the defeat Norway remain top of their Nations League group but now sit level on points with both Austria and Slovenia.

The Lions will complete their campaign when they travel to Slovenia before playing host to Kazakhstan next month.