Championship Group
LASK 3-1 FC Red Bull Salzburg
LASK ended a 10-game winless streak (D3 L7) at home to Salzburg in the Bundesliga and claimed a statement victory in new coach Thomas Darazs’ first match in the dugout. Marin Ljubičić ended an eight-game goal drought in style, scoring all three goals against the reigning champions. The opener came from the spot in the 18th minute when he thundered home a penalty that had been awarded by the VAR following a challenge on Filip Stojković by Daouda Guindo. The Croat extended the advantage eight minutes later when he slotted home from the edge of the six-yard box after Florian Flecker had wriggled away from several opponents and squared the ball across the face of goal from the left of the box. He then coolly completed the second hat-trick of his Bundesliga career with 17 minutes remaining on the clock, receiving the ball from George Bello and turning Mads Bidstrup before firing past Alexander Schlager left-footed. The Red Bulls did pull a goal back through a stunning Nene Dorgeles strike from distance but it was too little too late and they dropped three important points in the title race. LASK, meanwhile, leapfrogged Rapid Vienna back into third spot.
SK Rapid 1-1 SK Austria Klagenfurt
Rapid dropped two important points in the race for third spot and a place in the Europa League qualifying rounds as they were held to a draw by Austria Klagenfurt. But the Green & Whites got off to the ideal start and opened the scoring in the fifth minute through Isak Jansson, whose shot from a wide position on the left of the penalty area crept under opposition goalkeeper Phillip Menzel and into the back of the net. But with the Hütteldorf outfit failing to convert their continuing superiority into goals, Peter Pacult’s side restored parity when centre-back Max Besuschkow pounced on a failed clearance from Michael Sollbauer and hammered the ball past Niklas Hedl in goal for the hosts. Rapid could have restored their lead when Guido Burgstaller touched the ball past Philipp Menzel following a delightful through-ball from Ismaïl Seydi, only for Thorsten Mahrer to anticipate the situation perfectly and make a goal-saving intervention on the line. The draw saw Rapid drop down to fourth position, while Klagenfurt remain three points behind in fifth place.
TSV Egger Glas Hartberg 1-3 SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz
Having already knocked Salzburg out of the ÖFB-Cup this month, Sturm Graz are now level with their rivals at the top of the Bundesliga following an important victory in the Styrian derby. The first goal was scored in the ninth minute when Tomi Horvat’s accidental cutback landed perfectly in the path of Alexander Prass, who charged through the Hartberg defence and slotted the ball into the back of the net. But the game remained on a knife edge until shortly after the hour mark, when Mamadou Sangaré clumsily felled Mika Biereth in the box and Otar Kiteishvili fired home the resultant spot-kick. Things got exciting again 10 minutes later as Donis Avdijaj played a one-two with Jürgen Heil before halving the deficit against the run of play. Sturm, though, kept their cool and saw a big three points over the line thanks to Jon Gorenc-Stankovic, who headed home Kiteishvili’s corner in the 90th minute. Hartberg remain in sixth spot in the Championship Group, while Sturm go joint-top and could take a huge step towards their first title since 2011 if they can win in Salzburg in two weeks’ time.
Qualification Group
SC Austria Lustenau 0-1 CASHPOINT SCR Altach
Altach brought a run of five consecutive draws to an end by beating Austria Lustenau for the third time this season in a combative Vorarlberg derby and leaving their rivals five points adrift of safety at the bottom of the Bundesliga table. The visitors had the two best opportunities of the opening half in sunny Bregenz, with Lukas Fadinger blazing Jan Jurčec’s cutback over the crossbar after losing his footing and Darijo Grujcic heading Lukas Gugganig’s header off the line after Domenik Schierl had come racing out. The match remained goalless for much of the second half until Altach won a throw-in on the left flank with 10 minutes of the game remaining. Mohamed Ouedraogo hurled the ball into the danger zone and it ultimately fell to substitute Sofian Bahloul, who thundered it past Schierl and into the roof of the net to score his first Bundesliga goal. Lustenau’s frustrations were compounded when Anderson was shown a straight red for scything down Fadinger, who was countering down the left flank in the 93rd minute.
RZ Pellets WAC 0-1 FK Austria Wien
Austria Vienna extended their lead at the top of the Qualification Group to four points and kept themselves on course for a place in the Bundesliga’s internal end-of-season play-off with a narrow win over closest challengers Wolfsberg at the Lavanttal-Arena. The only goal of the afternoon came in the 11th minute when a slick passing move culminated in Reinhold Ranftl delivering a curling cross into the box towards Andreas Gruber, who turned his marker and fired into the far corner to take his goal tally for the season to double figures. In the period that followed, the Violets looked much closer to doubling their lead than Wolfsberg did to cancelling it out but a series of defensive blocks, goal-line clearances and saves from Hendrik Bonmann ensured it remained an open contest throughout. However, Wolfsberg’s hopes of coming away with something tangible took a blow when forward Thierno Ballo was dismissed from the field of play for a second bookable offence midway through the second period. In an act of frustration, the 22-year-old brought down Lukas Galvão as he attempted to clear the ball away from the Austria Vienna byline.
WSG Tirol 2-1 FC Blau Weiß Linz
WSG Tirol claimed a hugely important victory over Blau Weiß Linz to move three points clear of the promoted outfit and eight clear of the relegation zone with six rounds of matches remaining in coach Thomas Silberberger’s final season. Malian forward Mahamadou Diarra scored an early goal in both halves to ensure his side came out on top, powerfully heading home Matthäus Taferner’s in-swinging corner-kick four minutes into the first period and slotting home Nik Prelec’s shot with a backheel from close range five minutes after the restart. Blau Weiß Linz halved the deficit with a quarter of an hour to go, Kristijan Dobras firing a stunning and powerful strike from range into the net and leaving WSG goalkeeper Adam Stejskal without a chance. It was his first Bundesliga goal since October 2018! The goal brought the visitors back to life and they launched a late onslaught – but Stejskal made saves to deny substitutes Ronivaldo and Mehmet Ibrahimi before the Brazilian fired wide of the target with the final opportunity of the match.
Redakteur: The Other Bundesliga
Fotos: GEPA pictures