SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz 1-0 SK Rapid Vienna
A tremendous stroke of luck for Mika Biereth, helped massively by SK Rapid Vienna goalkeeper Niklas Hedl, gave SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz the three points in their chase of FC Red Bull Salzburg in one of the closest ADMIRAL Bundesliga title races in years.
The 79th minute goal saw the 23-year-old Rapid goalkeeper lose control of the ball during a routine period of play that Biereth was in the right place to capitalise upon. A horrible moment for Hedl, who has impressed hugely this season, but a potential title-changing moment for Christian Ilzer’s side.
In their first of three clashes over the next 12 days, including the ÖFB Cup Final in Klagenfurt, only a Seedy Jatta effort cleared away by Maxi Hofmann close to the goal line and a Christoph Lang chance that went wide was the best of the first half. Into the second period Otar Kiteishvili struck the woodwork with a decent attempt from outside of the area, before Jatta squandered another opportunity from close range. Then, Hedl’s unfortunate error proved decisive as Biereth slotted home and Sturm picked up a huge victory and dealt a blow to Rapid’s European hopes.
RZ Pellets WAC 1-1 SC Austria Lustenau
The winless runs of both RZ Pellets WAC and SC Austria Lustenau continued on Saturday afternoon with Adis Jasic and Lukas Fridikas exchanging first half goals. Whilst WAC still sit second in the Qualification Group, the alarm bells in Vorarlberg continue to sound with a five point gap opening up at the bottom.
Despite the absence of goal threats Thierno Ballo and Augustine Boakye, the Carinthians set the tone in the first period with Bernhard Zimmermann and Jasic both going close before the latter scored an absolute stunner into the top corner from 25 metres out via the underside of the crossbar (21’) - simply an incredible opening goal. For Lustenau, despite no offence at all during the first period, all it took was one chance to level the game with Ben Bobzien playing in Fridikas who was initially denied by Hendrik Bonmann, but was successful in his second attempt.
The guests carried the momentum into the second half, where Namory Cisse hit the post (59') and Bonmann had to save after a Pius Grabher free kick was deflected by Kennedy Boateng (71’) but, in the end, the points were shared.
FK Austria Vienna 3-0 WSG Tirol
FK Austria Vienna’s waltz to the top spot of the Qualification Group continued with a comfortable 3-0 dispatching of WSG Tirol at the Generali Arena. The Violets remain unbeaten and have only lost once since the beginning of December as they hunt down European football via the UEFA Europa Conference League Play-Off.
The comprehensive victory was kicked off by Golden Boot candidate Andreas Gruber who had all the time in the world after Dominik Fitz’ unselfish assist gave the 28-year-old an open goal to shoot at from close range (13’). Twenty minutes later, Gruber turned from scorer into the provider with a perfectly weighted cross into Fitz who headed home bravely to double the Violets lead (32’).
WSG Tirol boss Thomas Silberberger made a triple substitution to try and turnaround the game and was almost rewarded but Mahamadou Diarra’s free-kick hit the woodwork and Aleksander Buksa was denied by Christian Früchtl. However, it was Austria with the last laugh as Muharem Huskovic added the final goal after unselfish play from Gruber (83’).
CASHPOINT SCR Altach 2-2 FC Blau Weiß Linz
The points were all shared between CASHPOINT SCR Altach and FC Blau Weiß Linz as both clubs continued to move away from danger. For Altach, a campaign of survival has now become a season of potential European football as they now sit only three points behind RZ Pellets WAC in the battle for the second European Play-Off spot, and remain unbeaten in the Qualification Group. The Vorarlbergers took the lead twice through Mike-Steven Bähre (41’) and Sofian Bahloul (51’), but on both occasions the Blue and Whites pegged them back.
The deadlock was broken by Bähre from the penalty spot after Simon Pirkl was adjudged to have touched the ball with his arm, but was safely converted. Only four minutes later, Blau Weiß won their own penalty with Ronivaldo fouled by Paul Koller, and the Brazilian slotted home with aplomb.
The Altachers returned into the lead after Linz goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid misjudged the ball and placed it into the path of Bahloul who found the back of the net. However, for the second time, the Linzers equalised with Simon Seidl lofting a header over Tobias Schützenauer on the hour mark as Blau Weiß Linz added to their 13-game winless streak, whilst Altach are seven games unbeaten.
LASK 1-3 TSV Egger Glas Hartberg
After their stunning victory over champions FC Red Bull Salzburg last weekend, LASK came crashing down to earth with a home defeat against TSV Egger Glas Hartberg - who picked up their first victory of the Championship Group and elevated themselves into fifth. Unbelievably it continued Hartberg’s hex over the Linzers who are without a win against the Styrians since 2020.
After an impressive start, Jürgen Heil met the cross of Donis Avdijaj with a glancing header to put the Hartbergers into a 22nd minute lead. The scoreline was doubled a minute before the break as Maximilian Entrup brilliantly dribbled around two LASK defenders to fire home in the bottom corner.
The Linzers needed a big second half comeback and Florian Flecker took advantage of Raphael Sallinger’s mistake in the Hartberg net to half the deficit in the 57th minute, but the Styrians remained the more dangerous side as Entrup and Avdijaj both squandered chances. Then, substitute Dominik Prokop sealed the deal with a close range goal after a perfect cross from Dominik Frieser to add a third Hartberg goal and put them only three points behind LASK in the standings.
FC Red Bull Salzburg 4-2 SK Austria Klagenfurt
A Karim Konate first-half double spurred FC Red Bull Salzburg to victory as they returned to the top of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga. After the dismissal of head coach Gerhard Struber, former FC Liefering boss Onur Cinel has been given the unenviable task of continuing the serial champions title-winning sequence and with a 4-2 victory, his team gave him the perfect start.
It took only five minutes for Salzburg to open the scoring with Luka Sucic breaking through the lines and prodding home for the opener. However, it wasn’t all Salzburg’s way in the first half as Scotsman Andy Irving levelled up on the half hour mark with a coolly taken penalty.
From that moment, the Red Bulls were dominant with three goals in 10 minutes. Firstly, Oscar Gloukh lashed home after good work from Konate on the left (34’). The roles were reversed a minute later with Gloukh picking up the ball on the left and playing in Konate for the third. Just before the break, Serbian defender Strahinja Pavlovic’s header was guided in by Konate for a 4-1 lead at the break
With the result almost certainly in the bag for Salzburg, Max Besuschkow added a second for Klagenfurt in the 52nd minute but Cinel’s side held off to remain top of the table.
Redakteur: The Other Bundesliga
Fotos: GEPA pictures