SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz 0-0 SK Austria Klagenfurt
After a draw in the Carinthian Derby in midweek, SK Austria Klagenfurt battled for a goalless draw against title contenders Sturm Graz on Saturday evening. Peter Pacult’s side were given a lifeline after David Schnegg’s first-half red card made sure Sturm were outnumbered for a large majority of the contest, but it was the hosts who came closest to securing the victory as David Affengruber hit the crossbar in injury time.
Sturm - who were looking to return to winning ways after a defeat in Champions League qualification against PSV - initially dominated the contest until Schnegg’s tackle on Simon Straudi was deemed to be a red card offence by VAR, after an initial yellow card decision on the pitch. Despite Klagenfurt’s dominance on the pitch, Sturm had the ball in the net on the 78th minute via Tomi Horvat but unfortunately for the Graz side Mohammedi Fuseini was in an offside position for the assist. As the clock ticked over into injury time, Affengruber’s quick-thinking attempt from the left side clattered against the crossbar and, with that, any hope of a Sturm victory. Both sides remain undefeated in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga, with Sturm Graz yet to concede a goal.
RZ Pellets WAC 1-1 SC Austria Lustenau
Bernhard Zimmermann’s penalty in the fifth minute of injury time secured Wolfsberg a deserved last-gasp draw as they dominated possession and chances against an Austria Lustenau side who’ll be bitterly disappointed not to leave Carinthia with the three points.
Despite a one-sided first half where Wolfsberg couldn’t make the breakthrough, after only 28 seconds of the second half Austria Lustenau took advantage as Torben Rhein pipped Dominik Baumgartner to the ball, to assist Namory Cisse with the 20-year-old striker scoring with his first-ever shot in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga to put the Vorarlberg side into a lead. Lustenau had a golden opportunity to double their lead after Scott Kennedy brought down Anthony Schmid in the penalty box, but Hendrik Bonmann’s penalty was blasted directly at the goalkeeper. WAC substitute Mohamed Bamba made himself a nuisance and hit the post in injury time, before being brought down in the area for a last-gasp penalty. Zimmerman stepped up and calmly slotted the spot-kick to keep Manfred Schmid’s side unbeaten this season.
LASK 2-0 FC Blau Weiß Linz
The first Linz Derby in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga for 26 years was a Black-and-White affair as LASK their newly-promoted city rivals Blau Weiss Linz with an impressive display in front of a sold-out Raiffeisen Arena. The hosts dominated possession, passing stats and chances created, keeping the visitors at an arm's length for much of the match.
Thomas Sageder’s side enjoyed the perfect start with defender Philipp Ziereis lashing in from close range after only 12 minutes to crank up the atmosphere to a fever pitch. Despite a first half of feisty tackles, chances were at a premium for both sides as LASK entered the break only a goal ahead. Four minutes into the second half Robert Zulj added LASK’s second with a lovely piece of interplay with Ibrahim Mustapha setting up the finish as Zulj caressed the ball into the bottom corner. Blau Weiss Linz failed to lay a glove on their opponents in the final portion of the contest as LASK secured all the bragging rights in the maiden Bundesliga Linzer Derby of the 21st century.
FC Red Bull Salzburg 2 - 0 FK Austria Vienna
Red Bull Salzburg remained perfect with their third consecutive victory of the season against Austria Vienna. Strikes from Forson Amankwah and Karim Konate made sure that Sporting Director Christoph Freund’s farewell ended with all three points. For Austria Vienna, a second defeat of the season but their eyes will be firmly on their second leg against Legia Warsaw in Conference League qualifying on Thursday night.
The champions set a lightning pace early with Christian Früchtl being called into action by attempts from Roko Simic, but Salzburg’s best attempt of a one-sided first half came from Amar Dedic who clattered the crossbar from distance. The deadlock was broken in the 55th minute as Mads Bidstrup played an excellent assist from the right side into the path of Amankwah to slot in his first league goal for the club. As the match ticked over into injury time, Salzburg’s young strike force was on fire. Firstly, Nene Dorgeles thought he’d double Salzburg’s advantage, but saw his goal ruled out for an offside only for the exact same thing to happen again for Konate with a marginal offside. The Ivorian had time to finally fire home Salzburg’s second in the ninth minute of injury time, which had been incredibly ruled offside again - but was proven to be legitimate by VAR - and ran directly over to Freund in celebration.
SK Rapid Vienna 0 - 1 TSV Egger Glas Hartberg
TSV Hartberg inflicted Rapid Vienna's first ADMIRAL Bundesliga defeat of the season with an upset victory at the Allianz Stadion thanks to a second half goal from substitute Christoph Urdl. The hosts had looked to bounce back after a disappointing 0-0 draw against Debrecen in the Conference League qualifiers, but saw any plans disrupted by a disciplined performance from Markus Schopp’s side.
It had taken only 78 seconds for the ball to wriggle in the goal for TSV Hartberg, however Martin Koscelnik's finish was denied due to an offside position in the build-up. The visitors started the better though as chances from Maximilian Entrup and Christoph Lang went begging. After half-time, Rapid saw chances go amiss from Guido Burgstaller and Moritz Oswald but it was Hartberg who struck first as Entrup’s cross into the box was met by Rubin Providence who set-up Urdl to push the ball over the line for the lead from close range in the 68th minute. As Rapid tried for an equaliser, Entrup celebrated scoring at his former club only to be ruled out for another offside - however, it didn’t matter for the Hartbergers who remain undefeated this season.
CASHPOINT SCR Altach 1 - 0 WSG Tirol
SCR Altach picked up their first win of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga season thanks to a dramatic last-second goal from Lukas Fadinger, condemning WSG Tirol to be the only team in the division without a point yet. The Vorarlbergers were in fine form, with over 20 shots in the contest against WSG’s six and celebrated a deserved victory.
Leonardo Lukacevic almost put Altach ahead early with a magnificent volley that cannoned off the right post, followed by a powerful shot that came off the other post nine minutes later. It was one-way traffic with Adthe Nuhiu, Fadinger and Paul-Friedrich Koller all going close for the hosts. With only seconds remaining of normal time, substitute Gustavo Santos thought he had scored the winning goal only for it to be chalked off by VAR due to an infringement in the build-up. Then, with the last action of the match Nuhiu’s shot was saved by Adam Stejskal only to fall into Fadinger’s path who managed to score at the second attempt and send the 5,000 home fans at the CASHPOINT Arena wild.
Redakteur: The Other Bundesliga
Fotos: GEPA pictures