ADMIRAL Bundesliga Matchday 24 Reviews

Qualification Round

SV Guntamatic Ried 1-2 CASHPOINT SCR Altach

Struggling Altach sprang a major surprise by ending their 11-match winless run, which stretched back to October 2021, with a 2-1 victory away in Ried. It was the Upper Austrians who took the lead, with Julian Wiessmeier emphatically firing home from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time after Bakary Nimaga had handled the ball in the box. But the Vorarlbergers kicked off their fightback midway through the second period when Ange Nanizayamo scored Altach’s first league goal in 549 minutes – a club-record drought – to level the scores. Then, with around eight minutes remaining, substitute Christoph Monschein grabbed the winner two minutes and 43 seconds after his introduction to send the away fans into raptures. The win brings the bottom club to within two points of WSG Tirol, while Ried remain in second place in the Qualification Group and trail leaders LASK by two points.

WSG Tirol 0-0 FC Flyeralarm Admira  

Elsewhere, WSG Tirol and Admira Wacker ground out a goalless draw. Chances were few and far between in an uneventful opening period, but the Tyroleans upped the ante after the break and had a string of chances to take the lead. Bror Blume saw a well-executed volley beaten away by Admira goalie Andreas Leitner, before Tim Prica failed to convert Blume’s square ball at the back post and Giacomo Vrioni went close with a header. The Lower Austrians went closest when Joseph Ganda beat Ferdinand Oswald to a free-kick, but his header looped over the bar. Overall, WSG will count themselves unlucky not to have won this game; they remain second-bottom in the Qualification Group with 12 points, two places and two points behind Admira.

TSV Egger Glas Hartberg 0-0 LASK

LASK – again playing on a Sunday to allow them to recover from their final midweek European exertions of the season – are now five league matches without a win against Hartberg after being held to a 0-0 by the Styrians. Klaus Schmidt’s side rarely threatened, with a deflected Dario Tadic free-kick and a couple of lung-busting runs from his strike partner Seth Paintsil the only notable dangers going forward. LASK, meanwhile, almost opened the scoring before the break when Keito Nakamura chased down Alexander Schmidt’s ball across the face of goal, only for Patrick Farkas to intervene and hook it to safety. A couple of half-chances followed in the second period, but overall it was not enough from a LASK side who were without ill coach Andi Wieland on the sidelines. They remain top of the Qualification Group by two points, however. Hartberg, who have not won since November last year or scored a goal in close to 500 minutes, remain in fourth spot, only three points above the drop zone.    

Championship Round

RZ Pellets WAC 1-4 FC Red Bull Salzburg

Wolfsberg failed to exact revenge for their ÖFB-Cup exit in midweek as they were comprehensively beaten by a swashbuckling Salzburg side. The Red Bulls raced into a three-goal lead before the break, with Noah Okafor and Junior Adamu both beating Alexander Kofler with well-placed low finishes before Rasmus Kristensen cemented his place as the Bundesliga’s top-scoring defender (seven goals) with a lovely curling effort from the edge of the box. Maurits Kjærgaard added a fourth midway through the second period, with Eliel Peretz then pulling back a late consolation goal for the Wolves with a matter of minutes remaining. WAC, who were second four rounds ago, have now dropped down to fifth place after losing four of their last five games. Salzburg have won seven of their past eight league games and – with a 12-point lead over their closest challengers – are running away with their ninth successive title.  

SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz 3-1 SK Austria Klagenfurt

Sturm Graz secured their first win of the Championship Round by beating Austria Klagenfurt 3-1. Manprit Sarkaria was the match-winner for the Styrian side, curling a free-kick through a gap in the Klagenfurt wall to open the scoring and then putting his side back in front with a thumping effort with his weaker right foot – a strike which took his goal tally to double figures for the season – after Markus Pink had levelled the scores. Christian Ilzer’s team then made sure of the victory with a quarter of an hour remaining when Jon Gorenc-Stankovic met Jakob Jantscher’s cross with a glancing header into the back of the net. The three points took the Styrians back above Austria Vienna and into second place, while Austria Klagenfurt, who have now lost three consecutive league matches for the first time all season, stay bottom of the top six, three points behind Wolfsberg.

SK Rapid Wien 1-1 FK Austria Wien

Rapid Vienna and Austria Vienna met for the first time in the Championship Round – the 335^th derby between the tradition-steeped cross-city rivals in total – in front of 26,000 spectators at the Allianz Stadion. The game, which started with choreographies, chants and pyrotechnics, ended 1-1 – the sixth time in a row the two teams have drawn in the league. It was the Green & Whites who dealt the first blow, with Robert Ljubicic firing home from close range to send the home faithful into ecstasy, but the lead was to be short-lived. The Violets capitalised on a misplaced pass from Dejan Petrovic and Matthias Braunöder teed up Marco Djuricin for a tap-in from point blank range. Chances were at a premium in the second half, although Patrick Pentz did make an excellent save to keep out youngster Bernhard Zimmermann’s shot. The stalemate saw Austria drop down to third and Rapid move up to fourth, with only one point separating the capital clubs in the table.