ADMIRAL Bundesliga Matchday 12 Review

SK Austria Klagenfurt 1-3 LASK

LASK ended a run of five games without a win, as a brace from Marin Ljubicic helped them to edge past a strong Klagenfurt side in the battle between third and fourth on Saturday afternoon.

In an end-to-end game in Carinthia, it was LASK’s dependable attacking duo who combined to get them on the board first; Keito Nakamura fired a shot off the post and Ljubicic was in position to tuck away the rebound on 16 minutes. The home side were certainly well in the game though, and Markus Pink fired a sumptuous volley just over the top, before hitting the woodwork later in the first half.

Klagenfurt boss Peter Pacult sent on Jonas Arweiler after an hour, and he was immediately rewarded as the German soon latched onto a Christoper Cvetko pass and scored his third goal of the season with a well-taken finish from the left of the area, making it three league goals from the bench this season - no substitute has managed more. LASK goalie Alexander Schlager made a terrific point-blank stop to deny Solomon Bonnah at the back post as the home team threw everything at their opponents, but it would be the guests who went back in front when Ljubicic shrugged off one challenge, left another defender on the ground and nutmegged the keeper to make it 2-1 to LASK. A certain Erling Haaland holds a league record with 12 goals in his first 10 appearances, but Ljubicic isn’t far off that mark, as he’s now managed nine in that same space of time, a club record. Peter Michorl’s third assist of the season came when his pass picked out Nakamura on the left, the Japanese forward went on his own, finishing off his seventh goal of the campaign to make it 3-1, a lead which LASK would hold until the end.

The teams remain in third and fourth, with Klagenfurt now five points behind LASK in the standings.

SV Guntamatic Ried 1-0 SK Rapid Vienna

Ried made it two wins in succession as they defeated Rapid Vienna, aided by a string of good saves from keeper Samuel Sahin-Radlinger.

In a nervous game between two teams who really needed the points, chances were few and far between for much of the first half, but Patrick Greil hit the woodwork for Rapid before Berhard Zimmermann’s glancing header went close. Radlinger was able to acrobatically tip the latter effort over the crossbar to keep the game scoreless until the interval.

To the delight of the home crowd, five minutes after the break Ried won a penalty, Maximilian Hofmann caught Stefan Nutz as they waited for a high ball to drop in the area, and Christoph Monschein put away his second spot kick of the season to give his side a precious lead. Radlinger then denied Ferdy Druijf who was bearing down on him in the area, and also saved a Martin Moormann effort from way out as Rapid racked up 25 shots and 73% possession, but there was to be no way past the Ried keeper. A red card for visiting defender Leopold Querfeld made the journey back even worse for Rapid, who announced that Head Coach Ferdinand Feldhofer would be relieved of his duties on Sunday. For SV Ried though, the game marked the continuation of a tremendous home run against Rapid, having won five and drawn one in their last six meetings at the Josko Arena, stretching back to 2015. The Upper Austrians moved off the bottom to 11th place with the win, Rapid are seventh.

WSG Tirol 3-2 SC Austria Lustenau

A second half comeback from Austria Lustenau fell short, as WSG got their first home win since July in a five-goal thriller at the Tivoli Stadium.

It only took two minutes for Sandi Ogrinec to have the ball in the net for the hosts, but his early goal was ruled out for offside. Nevertheless Kofi Schulz headed WSG in front before a quarter of an hour had been played, scoring his second goal in as many games. Ogrinec would soon get his third goal of the season after all, when Thomas Sabitzer turned well in the area, only to see his blocked shot landing at the feet of his Slovenian team mate for a tap-in to make it 2-0. Before the first half was done, Sabitzer himself would get on the board for the season, scoring from the spot to give WSG a three-goal cushion at the break.

Markus Mader needed a reaction from his Lustenau team, and he got it, as half-time substitute Anthony Schmid scored his second in two games by poking past the keeper to reduce the deficit with just four minutes played. Chances came along for both teams, but it took Lustenau until stoppage time to get another goal on the board, as Anderson defied offside calls to score a bizarre effort from almost on the byline. His fourth goal of the season capped a fine performance from the Brazilian, but it was ultimately not enough to prevent Lustenau slipping to a fourth straight defeat. The promoted side have picked up an alarming total of just two points from their last seven games as they fall to ninth, but for WSG Tirol, the win carries them up to eighth place in the standings, leapfrogging their guests.

SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz 3-2 RZ Pellets WAC

Sturm finally broke WAC’s seven-match winning run at the Merkur Arena, as the half-time alterations made all the difference for the hosts on Sunday.

Wolfsberg came out of the blocks quickest in Graz, but it took them 25 minutes before Tai Baribo got on the end of a defensive tackle attempt in the box, sweeping home the loose ball to grab his fifth goal in his last six appearances. After a quiet first half from second-placed Sturm, Manager Christian Ilzer made a double-change at the break, and he apparently got the call just right, as the freshly introduced Otar Kiteishvili nipped in to flick a Gregory Wüthrich header high into the net after 48 minutes.

Three minutes later, Sturm set a Bundesliga record, as Alexandar Borkovic headed a William Böving cross in at the back post to become Sturm’s 16th different goal scorer after just 12 rounds. No team has ever recorded more scorers in so few games. The quickfire start to the second half continued when Albian Ajeti slid in to make it 3-1 to Sturm with just nine minutes played since the interval. The win wasn’t as comfortable as it could have been, as a bobbling back pass fell right into the path of ex-Sturm striker Thorsten Röcher in the 90th minute; he gratefully accepted the gift and scored his fourth of the season to make it 3-2, but Sturm would hold on to take all three points from Ilzer’s 100th game in charge. The hosts remain in second spot, two points off the top, and WAC stay in sixth, level on points with two other teams.

CASHPOINT SCR Altach 1-0 TSV Egger Glas Hartberg

Altach put an end to their run of four straight defeats at home, as Atdhe Nuhiu’s late winner lifted them off the foot of the table.

After Ried’s win on Saturday, these two teams met in Vorarlberg on Sunday as the league’s bottom two sides, and as you might expect from a basement battle, big chances were at a premium for much of the match. Forson Amankwah has provided plenty of goal threat in recent weeks for Altach, and his high through ball found Noah Bischof, but he could only volley straight at Hartberg keeper Raphael Sallinger in the first half.

Two minutes after the break, a shot from Lukas Jäger appeared to hit the hand of a Hartberg defender, but a VAR check showed that the hand was not in an unnatural position, and therefore no penalty was awarded. Matija Horvat flashed a header across the face of goal for Hartberg on a rare foray forward, but again VAR was called into question late on at the other end, and once more Jäger was involved. The Altach midfielder had a cross blocked by a Hartberg hand in the closing stages, and this time - somewhat more controversially - the referee also decided to award no penalty after a closer inspection. As the game appeared to be heading for a goalless draw, Csaba Butka burst down the right flank and delivered a cross to Nuhiu who was waiting in the area; he chested the ball down and volleyed in for Altach’s last-minute winner, sending the home crowd - and the home dugout - into a frenzy. It was Butka’s first assist in 48 appearances, and goal number seven for Nuhiu, two more than he managed last season; he’s now scored in three successive games. Altach move up to 10th, Hartberg fall to the foot of the table and therefore take over the unwanted “Red Lantern”, as it’s referred to in German.

FK Austria Vienna 1-3 FC Red Bull Salzburg

A youthful Salzburg side extended their run to eight wins in a row against Austria Vienna, as a Junior Adamu hat-trick brought the league leaders three points at the Generali Arena.

Luka Sucic’s pinpoint cross found Adamu in space at the back of the box, and the young forward headed Salzburg in front after 11 minutes, but Austria fought back against the run of play when a Matthias Braunöder shot was parried into the path of Dominik Fitz. He reacted well to steer the ball home for 1-1 with his fourth goal of the season.

Immediately after the break Noah Okafor thought he’d given Salzburg the lead, but he was flagged for offside in the six-yard box. With 16 minutes to play, Adamu finished off a move which Strahinja Pavlovic started, side-footing the ball into the net to become the first Salzburg player to score a brace in the league this season, and things would get even better for him six minutes later. Austria keeper Christian Früchtl flapped at a corner, leaving Adamu to force the ball home for his first professional hat-trick, on his 40th Bundesliga appearance. Only three other players have scored hat-tricks this season (Ljubicic, Pink, Prelec) and all of them have come away from home. Matthias Jaissle’s starting XI had an average age of 21 years and 109 days, making it the youngest side in Bundesliga history, but they still had enough experience to pick up the three points and move back to the top of the table. Austria remain in fifth place in the standings.