The Viennese took the lead in the Lavanttal Arena through Alon Turgeman from the very first minute. The Wolfsbergers then quickly equalized through Dejan Joveljic (17th) and in turn put them before Eliel Peretz (69th) in the second half of the game.
Two minutes later, Austria scored their second goal with a penalty that was converted by Christoph Monschein (71st). In the finish, both teams missed opportunities before Liendl was still successful from the last action of the game. Patrick Pentz was in the right corner, but the ball still found its way into the goal.
Dream start of the violets brought nothing
The WAC initially showed no signs of fatigue. With the exception of Luka Lochoshvili (suspended), who was represented by Stefan Peric, coach Ferdinand Feldhofer relied on the same team that started in the Europa League when they beat Feyenoord Rotterdam, while Peter Stöger relied on captain Alexander Grünwald for Austria and, for the first time this season, on Monschein and Turgeman in the storm.
The Israeli, who started this season for the first time after a long injury, should quickly make himself felt. 52 seconds had been played when the attacker headed a Suttner cross into the WAC goal. Austria could have given the lead security, but the WAC dominated. Before the eyes of the club boss Dietmar Riegler, who was shaved bald as promised after the Europa League heroic deed, the hosts pressed for the compensation – which should come.
Austria could not break free, Michael Novak’s cross found Joveljic, who also hit with his head. The Austria defense was unsorted. Minutes later, Joveljic had the 2-1 at the foot after he unexpectedly got the ball after a corner kick. However, the Serb acted hastily, Pentz cleared (23rd).
But the Viennese brought lines back into their game. Benedikt Pichler had the new leadership under his belt. The strong offensive man initially did everything right, but alone in front of Alexander Kofler he closed too centrally on the WAC goalkeeper (27th). He then blocked another attempt by Pichler.
Better ending for the WAC
Feldhofer brought in Nemanja Rnic for Stefan Peric, who had already been cautioned with yellow, and saw a slightly deflected Liendl shot, which Pentz parried (56th). A tired turgeman walked off the field in just over an hour. Before that, Austria had problems getting their offensive game going again.
It got turbulent after the 70th minute. WAC initially scored their second goal: Austria defender Erik Palmer-Brown again failed to get the ball out of the danger zone, Liendl’s hole pass to Peretz was easily used by the Israeli who had been substituted a few minutes earlier. On the other side, Grünwald fell in the penalty area after Joveljic had touched his foot. Referee Rene Eisner decided on a penalty, Monschein sent Kofler into the wrong corner.
Austria’s top scorer could have added more, but shot past Kofler as well as the goal (80th) after preliminary work by Patrick Wimmer. In what was now a turbulent game, Mario Leitgeb almost shot to the top of the bar in return. The decision was made deep in stoppage time: Maximilian Sax hit Christopher Wernitznig on the hip, Liendl scored from the point.
Voices for the game:
Ferdinand Feldhofer (WAC trainer): “There are three extremely important points for us. We hoped for that. After the 0: 1, I was impressed by how the team left it cold and played 30 minutes of unbelievable speed football. We put more effort into it, dominated the game. Austria has always come up with chances, there were coordination problems. I think the win is okay. Of course it’s happy if you get a penalty in the 92nd minute. “
Peter Stoeger (Austria coach): “First goal in the first and last minute of extra time. In between, everything was possible in this game. Both teams had the opportunity to turn the game in their direction. It was an open game. The bitter thing is that we don’t take any point. I don’t want to comment on the penalty situations. “
Tipico Bundesliga, eleventh round
Sunday:
WAC – Austria 3:2 (1:1)
Wolfsberg, Lavanttal-Arena, no spectators, SR Eisner
Goal sequence:
0:1 (1.) Turgeman
1: 1 (17.) Joveljic
2:1 (69.) Peretz
2: 2 (71.) Monschein (penalty)
3: 2 (93.) Liendl (penalty)
WAC: Kofler – Novak, Baumgartner, Peric (46./Rnic), Scherzer – Taferner (62./Wernitznig), Leitgeb, Liendl, Sprangler – Vizinger (62./Peretz), Joveljic (79./Dieng)
Austria: Pentz – Teigl, Handl, Palmer-Brown, Suttner – Pichler, Zwierschitz, Grünwald, Jukic (79./Sax) – Turgeman (65./Wimmer), Monschein (91./Schösswendter)
Yellow cards: Peric, Sprangler, Joveljic
The best: Novak, Leitgeb or Suttner, Pichler
