ADMIRAL Bundesliga Matchday 2 Reviews

LASK 1-1 SK Rapid Wien

A pulsating contest at a sold-out Raiffeisen Arena saw LASK equalise with only 10 minutes remaining via Alexander Schmidt’s first goal for the club. In a battle of two of last season’s top four, the hosts edged both possession and chances and their efforts paid off to keep them unbeaten for the season. Schmidt’s goal had cancelled out Taxiarchis Fountas’ opener, his sixth goal against the Linzers, after the Greek striker had capitalised from a defensive mix-up and Ercan Kara’s superb back-heel assist – the third time Kara and Fountas have combined for a goal in the Bundesliga. The strike was also Dietmar Kühbauer’s 400^th as a coach in the Bundesliga, making him only the 10^th coach to reach this mark.

FC Flyeralarm Admira 4-0 SK Austria Klagenfurt

Not a match to remember fondly for newly promoted Austria Klagenfurt with VAR dealing them two red cards in the first-half after captain Kosmas Gkezos and Nicolas Wimmer had both initially received yellow, which turned into dismissals after review. The Carinthians thus became the first club in the three-point era to suffer three red cards in their opening two games of the season. Admira took full advantage with a swaggering second half display including Stefan Zwierschitz’s first strike since March 17^th 2019, a brace from 17-year-old Onurhan Babuscu (the fourth youngest player to achieve this feat) and Emanuel Aiwu capping it off with a fourth in injury time. Leonardo Lukacevic bagged three assists, more than his first 28 Austrian Bundesliga matches combined, to see the Südstadt side into second place in the table; Austria Klagenfurt sit bottom.

TSV Egger Glas Hartberg 1-2 CASHPOINT SCR Altach

One week after stunning Rapid Wien on the opening day, Hartberg were brought back down to reality after an efficient display from Altach. The Vorarlbergers steamed into a two-goal lead in the opening half hour via Manuel Thurnwald’s hammer followed by Sandi Krizman’s first Bundesliga goal with his first ever attempt. Despite dominating possession and receiving the lion share of the opportunities, the Styrians couldn’t find a way through until leading man Dario Tadic scored with nine minutes remaining - the first time he’s ever scored three goals in his opening two games of an Austrian Bundesliga season – but it wasn’t enough as Altach held on for their first victory of the season.

FC Red Bull Salzburg 7-1 SV Guntamatic Ried

The champions were in utterly scintillating form on Sunday as they blitzed past SV Ried with a seven-goal haul at the Red Bull Arena. The visitors held firm until the 37^th minute, then the floodgates opened with Benjamin Sesko and Karim Adeyemi both recording braces, Rasmus Kristensen joined Adeyemi (and Hartberg’s Dario Tadic) in scoring in both rounds of the Austrian Bundesliga so far, with Andreas Ulmer and Noah Okafor adding their names to the scoresheet as well. Philipp Pomer scored a consolation strike, and his first Bundesliga goal, for the shell-shocked Innviertel side as the Red Bulls climbed back to their familiar spot at the summit of the table.

FK Austria Wien 1-1 WSG Swarovski Tirol

It was all-square at a sodden Generali Arena as two teams with aspirations to reach the Championship Group battled to a 1-1 draw. WSG’s new Albanian international striker Giacomo Vrioni scored on his Austrian Bundesliga debut after VAR had adjudged that Leonardo Ivkic had handled in the box – the debutant slotted home his penalty with a cool finish in first-half injury time. The Violets finally managed to equalise with nine minutes remaining after a complete misunderstanding in the Tyrolean backline saw Marco Djuricin capitalise for his 27^th career Austrian Bundesliga goal and to rescue a point for Austria.

RZ Pellets WAC 1-4 SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz

It was a case of getting the job done early for Sturm Graz who scored all four of their goals within a sensational 13-minute first-half spell. Dominik Baumgartner had put WAC into the lead with a storming header for his first goal of the season. From here the visitors, and Jakob Jantscher, were lethal with Gregory Wüthrich and Otar Kiteishvili both heading in Jantscher crosses, before the 32-year-old went from provider to scorer after a terrible blooper from goalkeeper Manuel Kuttin. That wasn’t the end of Jantscher’s involvements as he notched up his hat-trick of assists with David Affengruber the benefactor – the first time Jantscher has had four goal involvements in an Austrian Bundesliga match. Prior to Sunday, the only previous time Sturm Graz had scored four goals before half-time came against the same opponents, Wolfsberger AC, in August 2012.