ADMIRAL Bundesliga Matchday 29 Reviews

Qualification Round

WSG Tirol 4-0 LASK

WSG demolished LASK in Tirol on Tuesday evening to ensure their Bundesliga safety in style. A hattrick from Giacomo Vrioni meant that the loanee was the star of the show for Thomas Silberberger’s side, but Thomas Sabitzer also scored against his former club to inflict a heavy defeat on LASK, and move WSG above them to the top spot in the Qualification Round. Vrioni’s three goals moved him to 15 for the season, only Nikolai Baden Frederiksen has eclipsed that figure in a WSG shirt, when he netted 18 times last season. Fellow scorer Sabitzer has become something of an Upper Austrian specialist, as five of his seven career Bundesliga goals have now come against sides from the state. WSG were effective despite seeing just 35% of the ball, and Raffael Behounek promised that his team would celebrate properly after staying up!

TSV Egger Glas Hartberg 4-0 CASHPOINT SCR Altach

A huge home win for Hartberg gave their survival hopes a massive boost, whilst simultaneously piling the pressure on bottom side Altach. After recent good form in the group, Altach had moved themselves briefly away from the foot of the table, but once Felix Strauss had seen a second yellow just after the hour mark, his team were powerless to prevent goals from Dario Tadic, Okan Aydin, and Seth Paintsil, as Hartberg bought themselves some breathing space between themselves and the relegation place.

Tadic opened the scoring from the penalty spot, scoring his 42nd Bundesliga goal and extending his club record goal figure. Emanuel Schreiner was making his 200th appearance for Altach, but the day was ruined as Aydin added a goal and an assist for Hartberg, and Paintsil scored his first Bundesliga brace to seal a precious win, and move his team five points away from Altach at the bottom. The Vorarlbergers now desperately need a result against Ried to stay in touch.

SV Guntamatic Ried 1-1 FC Flyeralarm Admira

Admira left it late to level things up at 1-1 and earn an important point, spoiling Christian Heinle’s return to the home dugout at SV Ried in the process. An even game saw chances fall to Ante Bajic and Marlon Mustapha in the first hour, but both would need more time to get on the score sheet. Admira failed to clear a free kick, and after some pinball in the penalty area, Bajic was able to slot in a scrappy goal to give Ried the lead with 20 minutes to play. It was his eighth of the season, seven of which have come in front of the jubilant home fans at the Josko Arena. However, it wasn’t to be enough for a much needed first win for new coach Heinle, as Mustapha was fouled late in the game; he duly stepped up to score from the spot and equalise in the last minute of normal time. It was a major let off for Admira, who are fourth; one point and one place above Ried in the relegation fight.

Championship Round

SK Rapid Vienna 2-2 SK Austria Klagenfurt

Rapid and Klagenfurt played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in Hütteldorf, with all the goals coming in the closing stages of the game. Both teams went for it from the off on Wednesday evening, but Rapid came the closest, especially through Yusuf Demir who hit the post. Klagenfurt took the lead after 70 minutes however, when Florian Jaritz’s strike took a crucial deflection to beat the Rapid keeper Niklas Hedl. It was a third Bundesliga goal for Jaritz, all of which have come in the Championship Round, and away from home too. Eight minutes later, Berni Zimmermann crossed in for Ferdy Druijf to side-foot home a leveller, but Hedl was soon sent off at the other end, and Turgay Gemicibasi made it five out of five from the spot in the Bundesliga, as he converted the penalty for 2-1. Again the hosts fought back, and Ferdy Druijf bagged his first Rapid brace with an overhead kick in the 88th minute to leave both teams with a point. Rapid are third, and although Klagenfurt stay sixth, they’re still only two points outside of the European places.

RZ Pellets WAC 1-1 FK Austria Vienna

Wolfsberg and Austria took away one point each, as the quest for the remaining European places remained wide open following Wednesday’s fixtures. A first half effort from Christian Schoissengeyr was ruled out for a marginal offside, but it only took five minutes of second half action for Alexander Jukic to open the scoring as he volleyed home his fifth goal of the season off the post for Austria Vienna, following an excellent Markus Suttner cross. 14 minutes later, WAC equalised when Dario Vizinger poked home his first Bundesliga goal of 2022 following a long ball and a slight defensive mix up in the area. The sides each had 50% of the possession, and couldn’t be separated from the 1-1 scoreline, meaning Austria have now gone six games without a win. Nonetheless, they stay in fifth and fourth places respectively, level on 22 points and right in the mix for European football next season.

SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz 2-1 FC Red Bull Salzburg

Sturm secured second spot in the Bundesliga table with three rounds to spare, as they defeated Salzburg on home turf in a battle between two much-changed sides. Squad rotation at this stage of the season is no shock, but Sturm took full advantage by beating Salzburg for the first time since early 2021. Defender Lukas Jäger headed in powerfully following a set piece after 14 minutes to put the hosts ahead; his third Bundesliga goal, all of which have come in similar circumstances. Not long later, Salzburg were level when Nicolas Capaldo recorded his fourth assist of the campaign, his brilliant ball across the box flummoxed the Sturm defence and picked out Benjamin Sesko who turned it in easily for his fifth goal of the season. Sturm kept up the pressure though; a Stefan Hierländer shot went just wide with an hour gone, but after 73 minutes he found Jakob Jantscher in space in the area, his deflected shot gave Sturm a 2-1 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Jantscher was a fitting scorer of the winning goal, he’s now been involved in a highly impressive 25 goals this season, scoring 12 and assisting 13. Last time he scored that many goals was a whole decade ago when he was a Salzburg player. Salzburg have already claimed the league title for this season, but Sturm Graz sealed an excellent runners-up spot, and will play in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers next term.