Israel forward ​Saied Abu Farchi was sent off for celebrating his goal against Austria in their 3-1 ⁠ Nations League defeat by using the corner flag to simulate a gun.

Abu Farchi headed home in the 55th minute to bring Israel level after Austria had taken the lead through a Romano Schmid penalty before half-time at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz.

The 20-year-old ran to the ‌corner flag, grabbed it ‌and made a gun-firing gesture during his celebration.

Israel are down to ten men in Austria. Sayed Abu Farchi was given a second yellow card for this celebration after scoring the equaliser. pic.twitter.com/1RvIcILrv7

The referee had booked Abu Farchi four minutes earlier and showed him a second yellow card for the celebration, followed by a red, leaving Israel with 10 players for the remainder of the match.

Austria regained the lead in ‌the 90th minute through Phillipp ​Mwene, who netted following ‌a cross from ⁠Paul Wanner and Sasa Kalajdzic added ⁠a third in stoppage time with ‌a close-range ​finish to seal victory.

Israel next face Republic of Ireland on Sunday evening in a match where the build-up has been steeped in controversy .

The Israeli FA accused Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson of “hypocrisy and stupidity” after he said his team would be “playing against genocide” in the upcoming double header between the two teams, which will be taking place in neutral venues in Hungary and Serbia due to safety concerns.