City’s defender started a third straight match at EURO 2024 after featuring in Ronald Koeman’s side’s win over Poland and draw with France.
But in a rollercoaster tie, the 1988 European champions were on the wrong side of a five-goal thriller as their unbeaten start to the tournament in Germany came to an end.
It means the Netherlands have finished third in Group D and will face either Spain, Group C’s winners or Group E’s winners in the last-16.
In a breathless start to proceedings, Austria broke the deadlock inside six minutes when Alexander Prass’ inviting cross was unfortunately slid into his own net by Malen who was aiming to clear the danger.
It was no less than what Ralf Ragnick’s side deserved, but the Netherlands squandered a great chance against the run of play less than 10 minutes after the opener when Tijani Reijnders found space in the box but under hit an effort from a cut-back wide.
Ahead of the fixture, Koeman’s team knew the four points they had already accumulated would be enough to secure a place in the knockout stages as at least one of the best third-placed teams.
But they continued to press for an equaliser before the break and Malen came close to making amends for his earlier mistake when he broke clear of Austria’s defence but dragged his shot wide of the target from inside the box.
After defending well against a series of attacks before half-time, the Netherlands were level 75 seconds after the interval when Xavi Simons teed up Cody Gakpo who excellently curled past Patrick Penz.
But the scoreline was level for only 12 minutes as Austria restored their lead with a slick passing move which allowed the ball to be crossed into the box where Romano Schmid lost his marker to head home from close range.
The enthralling contest continued to ebb and flow and Memphis Depay drew the sides level once again with 15 minutes remaining - after a VAR review - when he controlled Wout Weghorst’s knock down and poked home.
Incredibly, though, Austria hit back soon after when Marcel Sabitzer beat the offside trap to rifle the ball into the roof of the net from an acute angle.
And Ragnick’s team thought they had pulled two goals in front seconds later when Christoph Baumgartner received the ball and fired low into the net - but the RB Leipzig man had strayed into an offside position in the build-up.
The Netherlands pushed for a third equaliser, but the goal they craved evaded them as the defeat, coupled with France’s draw with Poland, moved them to third in Group D.
Next up for Ake‘s nation is their last-16 fixture with either Spain, Group C’s winners or Group E’s victors.
