The third appearance in the Europa League after 2015 (qualification) and 2019 (group phase) began for the Wolfsberger with a cold shower. After just five minutes, the guests surprised the WAC defense and took a 1-0 lead with a placed shot by Adolfo Gaich from the edge of the penalty area.
Shortly before the break, Michael Liendl managed to equalize with a penalty (42.). Dejan Joveljic had previously been fouled by Viktor Wasin. In the table, the Wolfsbergers are tied with ZSKA at the top of the table, as no goals were scored in the parallel game between Dinamo Zagreb and Feyenoord Rotterdam. The WAC will be in Rotterdam next Thursday (6:55 p.m.) before they have to go to the Croatian champions on November 5th.
Europa League: LASK and Rapid lose, draw for WAC
Three Austrian football clubs were in action in the Europa League on Thursday evening. But there was only a sense of achievement for the WAC. The Carinthians achieved a 1-1 draw against CSKA Moscow. LASK and Rapid lost to the top London clubs.
Cold shower in the fifth minute
For the WAC, the match started anything but as desired, as it was already 0-1 in the fifth minute: After strong preparatory work by Croatian playmaker Nikola Vlasic, center forward Gaich, who was signed in the summer, shot perfectly into the corner from the edge of the penalty area. It was the 21-year-old Argentine’s first competitive goal for CSKA.
The Carinthians quickly put up with this early shock and got their first chance through Liendl. But the captain’s long shot hissed just past the pole (12th). Christopher Wernitznig also tried it from a distance, but his attempt failed too centrally and did not cause any problems for the experienced goalkeeper Igor Akinfejew (25th). On the other side, Nair Tiknizjan (30th) and Ivan Obljakow (39th) WAC goalie Alexander Kofler tested.
Liendl keeps his nerve at this point
The fact that the hosts equalized before the break was due to an unnecessary action by right-back Wasin, who pulled Joveljic on the Leiberl in the penalty area. The Serbian WAC striker went down after this jersey violation, and referee Sascha Stegemann from Germany immediately pointed to the penalty point (41st). Liendl did not miss this chance and easily equalized (42nd).
The Belarusian CSKA coach Viktor Goncharenko was so dissatisfied with the performance of his team that during the break he swapped two new offensive forces with the Nigerian Chidera Ejuke and the Russian international Alan Dzagojew and switched from four to three. Ejuke also had the first chance after the change, but shot clearly wide from a good position (56th).
Joveljic awards match point
On the other side, right-back Michael Novak only hit the side netting after a long Liendl free-kick (65th). Then the guests were on the trigger again: Wernitznig steered a penalty area shot by the recently substituted center forward Fyodor Chalov with his shin into the corner (67th).
Joveljic had the alleged match point for the WAC after a cross from Novak, but Igor Diwijew cleared the line with a head for the beaten Akinfejew. However, “Joker” Marc Andre Schmerböck was offside, so the goal would not have counted anyway (82nd). In the finish, Joveljic (90th) failed to Akinfejew, a little later Ejuke to Kofler (92nd), which kept it 1: 1.
Voices for the game:
Ferdinand Feldhofer (WAC trainer): “Because of the (bad, note) course and the opponent, who brought a lot of quality, it was a very intense game. We performed well and made it very difficult for our opponents. Despite the backlog, we didn’t let ourselves be put off and carried out our plan. We were nervous at the beginning, but things got a lot better during the first half. We dominated the game for a long time and were at least equal. “
Viktor Gontscharenko (ZSKA-Trainer): “We’re not happy with this game because we wanted to win here. We scored a fast goal, but then we couldn’t concentrate in the first half and conceded the equalizer. In the second half we were better after the many changes, but we failed to decide the game. We can play much better. “
Europa League, Group K, first matchday
Thursday:
WAC – ZSKA Moskau 1: 1 (1: 1)
Klagenfurt, Wörthersee Stadium, 1,700 spectators, SR Stegemann (GER)
Goal sequence:
0:1 Gaich (5.)
1:1 Liendl (42./Foulelfmeter)
WAC: Kofler – Novak, Baumgartner, Lochoshvili, Scherzer (84./Pavelic) – Leitgeb – Taferner, Liendl, Wernitznig (73./Peretz) – Joveljic, Dieng (78./Schmerböck)
ZSKA: Akinfejew – Wasin (46./Dsagoev), Diwejew, Magnusson, Zainutdinow – Maradischwili, Obljakow – Kutschajew (77./Akhmetov), Vlasic (87./Bistrovic), Tiknizjan (46./Ejuke) – Gaich (61./Tschalow )
Yellow cards: Wernitznig, Feldhofer (trainer) or Vlasic, Tiknizjan, Wasin, Zainutdinow, Magnusson, Ejuke
The best: Liendl, Leitgeb, Baumgartner, Taferner or Vlasic, Ejuke
