The Violets, who were clearly beaten in the end, only have one point after the 0:0 against Hapoel Beer Sheva at the start. At the head of the group is Villarreal, the Spaniards hold a maximum of six points after a 2-1 draw at Beer Sheva. Lech follows with three. The trip to Valencia is now pending for Austria – who are already waiting for ten European Cup games to be successful. Austria will visit Villarreal on October 5th.
For Austria coach Manfred Schmid, the evening actually started off to measure. In front of a little over 20,000 spectators in Poznań’s 2012 European Championship arena, Schmid relied on the tried and tested. The same eleven started as against Beer Sheva last week. Of those players who had won 3-0 in Hartberg at the weekend, ten men were there, with the exception of Marvin Martins. In defense Lukas Mühl was supposed to disrupt the circles of Lech’s striker Ishak in a duel between two ex-Nuremberg professionals.
Austria is defeated by Lech Poznan
Wiener Austria remains without a win on the second day of the Conference League. At Lech Poznan it is a 1:4 defeat.
Austria started ambitiously, tried their hand at pressing and achieved partial success. Lech’s build-up was paralyzed, but the hosts almost wrote from their first chance. Joao Amaral appeared alone in front of Christian Früchtl after an ideal pass from Skoras, but shot well over the bar from a half-left position (14′). Austria played a lot on the right flank with Reinhold Ranftl and Andreas Gruber. A counterattack paved the first big Austria chance for Gruber. The right winger had a lot of space, but finished too harmlessly (24th).
Faster Austria equalization on deficit
It was turbulent. First it was Lech’s turn. Austria attacked impetuously in midfield and opened up space, Ishak was completely free after a pass from Amaral and didn’t give Früchtl a chance. Whether the Swede started offside remained open. In the Conference League, the VAR is not used in the group. However, Austria immediately managed to shake off the setback: Fischer made space in the penalty area and saw Braunöder, who was successful on the second try. 1:44 minutes lay between the 1:0 and 1:1.
Poland’s champion revealed further weaknesses in defense and presented Austria with the lead on the serving tray. Left-back Pedro Rebocho failed to receive the ball and stalled against Dominik Fitz. The man who was fouled wanted to play, but after a short discussion Fischer grabbed the ball – and failed with an unplaced attempt by Lech goalie Filip Bednarek. Austria could not reward themselves for their good performance in the first half of the game.
Posen takes advantage of Austria’s mistakes
Things got dangerous for the Viennese shortly after the change of sides. Ishak released Amaral, the Portuguese failed from eleven meters at Früchtl’s parade (49th). Long-distance runner Braunöder was almost on his second European Cup goal (56th) with a sharp cross, Gruber just missed the far corner (62nd). Austria played offensively pleasing, but again they were too careless in defense. Skoras had plenty of room on a cross and completed a volley. Complaints about offside went unheeded, Mühl was level with the winger.
Schmid brought in fresh forces for the offensive, but a “joker” made the decision for Lech. Velde made room against Ranftl and defeated Früchtl. The Norwegian even followed up after a free kick in the finish and thus ensured clear conditions.
Comments on the game:
Manfred Schmid (Austria coach): “If you look at the performance in the first 75 minutes and then come up with such a result, it’s disappointing. Poznan was efficient, they scored and we didn’t. For me there were two sticking points. The penalty awarded and how we do at 1: 2, that must not happen. We then made offensive changes, but it was over when we conceded the third goal.”
Dominic Fitz (Austria striker): “The defeat is far too obvious. I think we played better in the first half, had chances and established ourselves up front. After the 1:2 we break up into all parts and get goal after goal. We have to stop that, otherwise we will suffer bitter defeats. We defended negligently, that must not happen to us.”
Conference League, Group C, second day of play
Thursday:
Lech Posen – Austria 4:1 (1:1)
Poznan, Poznan Stadium, 20,102 spectators, SR Kjaesgaard (DEN)
Torfolge:
1:0 Ishak (27.)
1: 1 Braunöder (29th)
2:1 Skoras (64.)
3:1 Velde (76.)
4:1 Velde (90.)
Lech: Bednarek – Pereira, Satka, Milic, Rebocho (46./Douglas) – Karlström, Kvekveskiri (58./Murawski) – Skoras, Amaral (69./Marchwinski), Szymczak (58./Velde) – Ishak (85./Dagerstal )
Austria: Früchtl – Ranftl, Mühl, Galvao, Martins (77./Kreiker) – Braunöder, Holland (71./Teigl) – Gruber (77./Tabakovic), Fischer, Jukic (61./Huskovic) – Fitz (71./Keles )
Yellow cards: Rebocho, Szymczak, Douglas, Bednarek or Gruber, Galvao, Braunöder
The best: Amaral, Skoras or Braunöder, Gruber
