ADMIRAL Bundesliga Matchday 8 Review

SK Rapid Vienna 1-3 RZ Pellets WAC

Wolfsberg continued their fine away form to take all three points with them from the capital city on Saturday. Tai Baribo got over his missed spot kick from a game against Sturm earlier in the season, and this time converted his first successful Bundesliga penalty to give the guests an early lead, and they never looked back. Augsburg loanee Maurice Malone marked his second game for WAC with a brace. First came a precise cushioned finish into the corner for 2-0 in the 14th minute, and the German struck again in the second half when ex-Rapid attacker Thierno Ballo got his first league assist after 15 appearances. Berni Zimmermann pulled one back in stoppage time with his second goal of the season from the bench, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Rapid slipping to defeat despite bossing the possession (69%) and shot counts (23/9). The home side stay 5th, as WAC climb to 8th.

SV Guntamatic Ried 0-3 FC Red Bull Salzburg

Salzburg backed up their impressive start to the UEFA Champions League by extending their lead at the top of the Bundesliga, thanks to an away win in Upper Austria. A flurry of early action set Salzburg on their way, as Benjamin Sesko got his quickest ever league goal after just five minutes, having been played clean through by a pass from Maurits Kjaergaard. That was the champions’ fastest goal of the season so far, and they had another ten minutes later, when Junior Adamu was left in space at the near post to nod in his ninth career Bundesliga goal, seven of which have come away from home. A missed penalty from Christoph Monschein prevented Ried getting a foothold in the game, and Leo Mikic was sent off not long after, in a busy first 45. Scorer Adamu would also receive his marching orders after the interval, but that didn’t prevent Noah Okafor from notching goal number five of the campaign, and making it a goal in each of the past four matches for the Swiss striker. Ried are 11th with a worrying one point from their last five matches, Salzburg are top on 21 points having now hit their stride.

WSG Tirol 0-0 CASHPOINT SCR Altach

WSG and Altach shared the spoils after a goalless stalemate in Innsbruck left both sides frustrated. Jan Jurcec had four shots on goal himself, as Altach mustered 11 in total over the 90 minutes, compared to just five from WSG. The home side’s back-four remained solid, as did the back-five of Altach, and ultimately the game needed a goal scoring hero that never came. Zan Rogelj won more duels than any other player for the hosts (7) and Altach’s Emanuel Schreiner put in four crosses, creating three shooting chances in the match, but it was destined to end in deadlock, with both sides staying put in the Bundesliga’s bottom-six for now.

SC Austria Lustenau 1-1 LASK

A late equaliser saw the home fans go away happy, as Lustenau’s positive introduction to life back in the Bundesliga continued on Sunday. Keito Nakamura opened the scoring for the visitors after 23 minutes of action in Vorarlberg. The Japanese player made it an eye-catching total of five goals and three assists in just eight games this season, when he converted from Efthymios Koulouris’ assist. That’s one scorer-point more than he managed in 22 appearances last term. However, Nakamura shares the top of the standings in that metric with none other than Lustenau’s Bryan Teixeira. The Cape Verde international delivered his sixth assist of the season, with the cross for Lukas Fridrikas to fire home his third league goal and grab the equaliser for the hosts after 82 minutes. Seconds later, LASK were reduced to ten-men as Filip Stojkovic picked up a second yellow card, and the contest ended all-square, with Lustenau in fourth place, six points behind LASK, in second.

TSV Egger Glas Hartberg 0-3 FK Austria Vienna

Hartberg succumbed to a fourth defeat of the season, after being swept aside by an upwardly-mobile Austria Vienna team in eastern Styria. Austria’s Andreas Gruber is no stranger to Bundesliga goals, his thunderous long-range strike midway through the first half was goal number 35 in his Bundesliga career, but only his sixth from outside the box, and his first from distance since scoring for SV Mattersburg back in 2020. Gruber turned provider after the break, bursting down the right before playing a low cross into the path of Aleksandar Jukic, who doubled the lead with his ninth career goal. Unfortunately for Hartberg, the birthday celebrations of Club President Brigitte Annerl would not be reflected in a positive result, as left-back Thomas Kofler bundled the ball into his own net under heavy pressure from Georg Teigl to make it 3-0. Austria recovered well from their mid-week European exertions, and ran out comfortable winners on the day, giving them their first glimpse of the top-six this season, as Hartberg drop down to tenth position.

SK Austria Klagenfurt 0-2 SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz

Second half goals from Ivan Ljubic and Emanuel Emegha steered Sturm Graz to victory in the weekend’s final game, keeping them in third place in the Bundesliga standings. New Sturm signing Albian Ajeti created three shots in the game, but his side were unable to convert shots into goals until almost 70 minutes had been played. Ivan Ljubic cut through the Klagenfurt defence by lashing in a long-shot, meaning that two of his last four goals have come from outside the area. With the lead in hand, the visitors struggled to kill off the contest, but eventually, super-sub Emanuel Emegha popped up with a goal on the break as Klagenfurt pushed for a point in stoppage time. The young Dutchman has now scored three times this season, all from the bench. Klagenfurt slip just out of the top half, into seventh place, as Sturm made it four wins from five in all competitions, and gained ground on second-placed LASK.