ADMIRAL Bundesliga Matchday 7 Review

FK Austria Wien 2-2 SC Austria Lustenau

Promoted Austria Lustenau made amends for their disappointing ÖFB-Cup exit to lower-league Wiener Sport-Club by drawing away to Austria Vienna – their first Bundesliga point in the capital city since 1998. Reinhold Ranftl fired the home side into an early lead in the fourth minute when he rifled a low effort through a crowd of players in the box and into the corner, but Lukas Fridrikas levelled up for Lustenau just shy of the half-hour mark and then headed against the upright shortly afterwards. The Vorarlbergers subsequently took the lead on 34 minutes when former Lustenau man Haris Tabakovic gave the ball away in midfield and Anderson slotted home. However, Austria Vienna restored parity through substitute Aleksandar Jukic 11 minutes into the second half, and the Violets might have even won the match had Can Keles’ deflected effort not struck the crossbar. A point was enough to keep Austria Lustenau in fourth spot, whereas Austria Vienna dropped down from eighth place to ninth.

FC Red Bull Salzburg 2-0 WSG Tirol

A fifth consecutive league win – this time a routine victory against WSG Tirol – saw serial champions Salzburg end the round at the summit of the Austrian Bundesliga for the first time since Matchday 1. Ahead of their opening Champions League game against AC Milan in midweek, the Red Bulls hit the ground running and took a 13^th-minute lead when Fernando whipped in a low cross from the right for Noah Okafor to convert from close range. But despite creating a raft of chances, Matthias Jaissle’s charges could not extend their advantage until the closing stages of the game when substitute Youba Diarra fortuitously wrapped up the points with a deflected shot in the 79^th minute. The game saw 19-year-old Lucas Gourna-Douath, the record signing by an Austrian club at €13m, make his debut having spent his first weeks at the club recovering from a ligament injury. It was also Salzburg’s 30^th consecutive Bundesliga home game unbeaten, having last lost in home turf in December 2020.

SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz 0-0 TSV Egger Glas Hartberg

Sturm Graz dropped two more points as they were held to a disappointing goalless draw at home to Styrian rivals Hartberg, who were reduced to 10 men in the opening stages. The dismissal came in the 12^th minute when Matija Horvat was adjudged to have brought down Emanuel Emegha just outside the box , denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. But the home and numerical advantages did not help Christian Ilzer’s side – who sold star striker Rasmus Højlund to Italian outfit Atalanta shortly before the transfer window closed – break the deadlock. Clear-cut chances were few and far between but several handball appeals in the box were waved away as Hartberg held on to secure a point. The result, which comes five days before Sturm’s Europa League opener against Danes Midtjylland, means they have now fallen five points behind second-placed LASK. Hartberg, meanwhile, are up to eighth place.

CASHPOINT SCR Altach 0-1 SK Rapid Wien

Rapid Vienna brought their three-match winless streak to an end with a narrow victory over struggling Altach in Vorarlberg. The only goal of the game came as early as the ninth minute, when Yusuf Demir latched on to a looping header over the defence from Ferdy Druijf and volleyed the ball into the bottom corner with Altach goalkeeper Tino Casali caught in no man’s land. But with all still to play for early in the second period, Altach found themselves in the ascendancy and had a couple of glimpses of goal when Atdhe Nuhiu and Jan Jurcec fired narrowly wide of the mark from range in close succession. However, the closest Altach came to a leveller was when Aleksa Pejic kicked the ball against his own post in a bid to intercept a cross into the danger zone late on. Despite their poor recent form, the Green & Whites currently sit in fifth place and have a game in hand on their rivals after postponing a league fixture ahead of the Conference League play-off return leg with Vaduz.

RZ Pellets WAC 3-4 SK Austria Klagenfurt

In what was a Bundesliga weekend brimming with regional derbies, Carinthian duo Wolfsberg and Austria Klagenfurt played out the most entertaining game of the round, with the latter twice coming from behind to claim the points and bragging rights over their rivals. Tai Baribo opened the scoring in the ninth minute with his second goal of the season, only for centre-back Nicolas Wimmer to restore parity eight minutes later. The Wolves re-established their lead when the unmarked Raphael Schifferl headed home a corner just shy of the half-hour mark, but Austria Klagenfurt hit back again and raced into a 4-2 lead thanks to a Markus Pink double and a strike from Christopher Cvetko. Wolfsberg gave themselves a lifeline when substitute Nikolaos Vergos slotted home an 85^th-minute penalty kick but it was too little too late for Robin Dutt’s men, who dropped down to second-bottom following the defeat. Winners Austria Klagenfurt have now moved up to the top half of the table and sit in sixth with eight points.

LASK 1-1 SV Guntamatic Ried

With LASK occupying pole position and Ried winless in four matches, the Linzers were the favourites heading into the latest edition of the Upper Austrian derby. But the dynamic soon shifted after top scorer Marin Ljubii, who joined on loan from Hajduk Split in the summer, was sent off for violent conduct after 10 minutes. And yet it was Didi Kühbauer’s men who took the lead on the stroke of half-time, with the excellent Keito Nakamura firing a powerful low effort into the bottom corner. Christoph Monschein had a potential equaliser ruled out for offside after the interval, before Ried were also reduced to 10 men following a challenge from David Ungar on Robert Zulj, With the playing field now even, one might have expected LASK to go on and win the game – but there were more twists and turns to come, with Philipp Pomer drawing the Vikings level with 13 minutes to play. LASK now occupy second spot, a point behind Red Bull Salzburg, while Ried have moved up to 10^th and are one point clear of the drop zone.