Emil Atlason brace leaves Linfield with work to do in order to salvage Conference League dream

The Blues, who entered this tie as the seeded side, fell behind in the 22nd minute as Atlason continued his fine form by curling an unstoppable free-kick beyond Chris Johns before the visitors squandered an opportunity to almost immediately equalise with Chris Shields’ penalty rocketing back off the crossbar after Kyle McClean had been brought down.

It was almost a case of déjà vu 15 minutes after the break with the same player scoring from virtually the same method as former Iceland U21 international Atlason dealt Linfield a cruel sucker punch, striking home after his initial free-kick had came back off the wall.

Atlason has been the bright spark throughout an otherwise disappointing league campaign for Stjarnan, scoring seven times for a side that sit seventh after 14 domestic matches – 16 points adrift of leaders Vikingur – and produced a moment of quality to put his team in front at the Stornuvollur.

However, four minutes later the visitors earned themselves a prime chance to strike back as debutant Scot Whiteside’s header was collected by last season’s Player of the Year McClean and he was brought down – Welsh referee Iwan Griffith with no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Shields’ powerful effort sent Mathias Rosenorn helplessly diving in the wrong direction, but bounced back off the crossbar to leave Linfield trailing.

Atlason was proving to be a handful for the Blues defence and had two opportunities within 60 seconds – firstly putting an effort wide after finding room in the box from a corner before striking a vicious low shot straight at Johns.

David Healy’s side piled on the pressure in the dying moments of the first-half, ending it with a succession of corners – Chris McKee’s flicked header almost found the far corner from one – and another penalty shout which was waved away.

That theme continued after the break with the Belfast outfit earning another set-piece within seconds and persisted with deliveries into the box, but also had to rely on Johns to keep Stjarnan at bay with the former Coleraine stopper making a crucial save to deny Orvar Eggertsson in the 54th minute.

There was nothing he could do six minutes later though as Atlason grabbed his second of the evening, firing home the rebound from his own free-kick on the edge of the box.

Linfield came close to finding what would have been a deserved breakthrough as a well worked corner provided Kirk Millar with space and the winger unleashed a shot which was cleared off the line.

A goalmouth scramble in injury time almost gave Healy’s men something to bring back to South Belfast next week, but it ultimately went out of play for a goal kick.

The Blues have twice came within touching distance of reaching the group stages of European competitions, including in the 2022/23 Conference League before losing out in a dramatic penalty shootout to RFS, and they have their work cut out to mount a similar challenge this term.

Linfield will take confidence from the fact they’ve won four of their last eight continental ties at Windsor Park while Stjarnan have struggled on the road this season, collecting just four points in seven league matches.