SV Guntamatic Ried 1-1 SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz
Despite taking an early lead, Sturm had to settle for a point on the road in Ried. Summer signing Vesel Demaku crossed accurately for Christoph Lang to poke home the opener on his starting debut for the guests. The 20-year-old took his chance well to record his first Bundesliga goal in his tenth appearance. Sturm still have UEFA Champions League qualification in their sights, so when Ried’s Leo Mikic received his marching orders just after the hour mark, they may have expected to shut up shop and hold on to their lead, but the home team had other ideas.
Right back Sandro Ingolitsch was a split second too late on a clearance, and he conceded a penalty with just over ten minutes to play. Ried’s Christoph Monschein made it a career seven penalties scored from seven taken, dispatching it coolly for 1-1. He’s now scored in all of his eight Bundesliga seasons, for each of his five Bundesliga clubs. Roared on by the home crowd, Ried pushed for the late winner, but in the end Sturm remained unbeaten, and both teams earned a point.
RZ Pellets WAC 1-5 LASK
LASK demolished WAC in Wolfsberg on Saturday to take over at the top of the table. The visitors got off to the perfect start when Thomas Goiginger crossed well for Marin Ljubicic to head home inside sixty seconds. Goiginger then turned goal scorer as he fired in a low shot seven minutes later. The goals kept on coming before the break, and Hyun-Seok Hong’s ball down the middle was finished by Ljubicic, who went on to score a first half hat-trick to leave the score 4-0 as the teams headed for the changing rooms.
The young Croatian added another after the break, firing in a rebound for 5-0, meaning he has scored six goals across just his first three Bundesliga appearances, something only Oliver Bierhoff and Tibor Nyilasi have ever managed before. Keito Nakamura’s two assists meant he doubled his personal tally from his previous 24 games, and despite Michael Novak pulling a consolation goal back for the hosts, this was very much LASK’s day to celebrate. They sit atop the table with seven points from three games, and a healthy goal difference of plus six. WAC are tenth, and yet to record their first win of the season, as their attentions turn to a UEFA Europa Conference League qualifier against Gzira United.
TSV Egger Glas Hartberg 0-2 FC Red Bull Salzburg
Hartberg held on until the second half against Salzburg, but a strong finish earned the champions the three points. The visitors - who were again missing Matthias Jaissle from the dugout through illness - were restricted to only six shots in the game, and it took them 50 minutes to open up a stubborn Hartberg defence. Fernando headed a ball forward for himself, and with a burst of pace he was into the box and able to finish at the second time of asking. That was a second goal of the season for the man who signed from Shakhtar Donetsk this summer, and it broke the home team’s resistance.
Just after the hour mark, a high quality move ended with Maximilian Wöber nodding a ball across for Nicolas Capaldo to flick high into the net for 2-0. The Argentine’s fourth career Bundesliga goal put the result beyond doubt, and Salzburg move up to third, one point off the top of the table. Hartberg have now won one and lost two of their first three games, and are in ninth place.
CASHPOINT SCR Altach 3-2 FK Austria Wien
Altach produced a stirring comeback to earn their first win of the campaign, and leave Austria rooted to the foot of the table. It was all looking so good for the Violets when ex-Altacher Manfred Fischer swept home a finish for 1-0 inside 20 minutes, and it got even better after the break. Austria colleague Haris Tabakovic had a fantastic scoring record in Vorarlberg in his time at Austria Lustenau, and he was able to walk-in his first Bundesliga goal to double the lead early in the second half, but he missed a close range chance for 3-0, and the hosts used that as a lifeline
Atdhe Nuhiu headed in unmarked from a corner to reduce the deficit, before Matthias Braunöder nodded past his own goalkeeper when he was unsighted as the ball came into the box. Suddenly it was 2-2 with a quarter of an hour to play, and in stoppage time, Manuel Thurnwald linked up with Nuhiu for the third time this season, and the big striker headed in the winner to spark jubilation amongst the home fans. Nuhiu has scored three headers already this season, and the rest of the league have managed just two combined! Miroslav Klose celebrated a remarkable first win in charge of Altach, who move up to eighth; Austria Wien remain last, three points away from 11th place.
WSG Tirol 2-2 SK Austria Klagenfurt
Two goals in stoppage time spoiled WSG’s winning feeling, as the hosts dropped two points in unlikely fashion. Striker Tim Prica finished smartly for 1-0 after eight minutes, and just four minutes later he bundled the ball in with the help of the back post to double WSG’s lead. With that, the young Swedish striker secured the earliest Bundesliga brace by a WSG player. He also set a new club record as the only player to score in each of the first three games of a season for WSG Tirol.
Austria Klagenfurt were dominant in possession and outnumbered WSG in the shot count by 18 to six, but they looked down and out until deep into stoppage time. Jonas Arweiler bounced a header in at the back post for his first Bundesliga goal, but with 92 minutes played it appeared to be a consolation goal. However, a 95th minute penalty gave Nicolas Wimmer the chance to level from the spot, and he duly obliged to earn his team their first point of the season. In their last 35 games, Klagenfurt have scored just once in stoppage time, so to get two here was certainly a surprising finish to the game. WSG now have a win, a draw and a defeat and sit in mid-table.
SK Rapid Wien 1-1 SC Austria Lustenau
Rapid let their lead slip at home on Sunday, as promoted Lustenau came back to claim a point. The hosts had won both of their previous games by one goal to nil, and after pushing hard in the first half they found the net again as Guido Burgstaller scored for the second Bundesliga game in succession after 21 minutes. Marco Grüll provided the assist, and he and his teammates went close to finding that all-important second goal, but it didn’t arrive.
After the break, two yellow cards for Ante Bajic left Austria Lustenau with the man-advantage, and they used it well when Stefano Surdanovic scored his first goal for the club to grab an equaliser with 20 minutes to go, following a pass from Bryan Teixeira. Neither side could find a winner in the closing stages, so in the end it was a point apiece. Rapid slip to second on seven points; Lustenau are fifth with four points.