Ried trainer Christian Heinle made two changes to his starting eleven compared to the semi-finals in the cup last week at Wiener Sport-Club (2-0). At Hartberg, two of the eight new winter signings, Manuel Pfeifer and returnee Donis Avdijaj, played right from the start.
There was little to be seen of the Styrians offensively before the break, and they also presented themselves vulnerable on the defensive. In addition, defensive veteran Mario Sonnleitner had to leave the field prematurely with a muscle injury (41st).
Hartberg wins in Ried
And leaves the red lantern in Upper Austria.
After a cautious start from both sides, Rieder gained the upper hand in the middle of the first half in front of 3,080 spectators. Stefan Nutz failed after a cross from Leo Mikic and receiving the ball with his chest at Raphael Sallinger, the successor to the retired Rene Swete in the Hartberg goal (27th). Two minutes later it was Nutz again, who fired wide of the far corner after a mistake by Marin Karamarko. Mikic also appeared dangerously in front of Sallinger after a mistake by Matija Horvat on the counterattack (45′ + 2′).
Ried once again revealed problems with the exploitation of chances. The Innviertler have only scored twelve goals in 17 league rounds – by far the fewest in the league. After changing sides, the Hartbergers became increasingly dangerous in Schopp’s 4-2-3-1 system. A shot by Jürgen Heil was too imprecise (68′), Christoph Lang acted too indecisively (70′).
Frieser hits to victory
After Heil won the ball, the ball deflected over substitute Ruben Providence to Frieser, who nodded off victoriously. Ried goalkeeper Jonas Wendlinger a little later prevented Dario Tadic from making it 2-0 (86′), while newcomer Roko Jurisic was unable to get the ball past Sallinger (89′) when he had the best chance of equalizing. The disappointed Rieder fans threw cups onto the field at the end.
Schopp scored his first league win against Ried in his 100th Bundesliga game as Hartberg coach, the first since May 2021. The Upper Austrians had to admit defeat for the first time in the fifth Bundesliga home game against Hartberger. Ried is now five league games without a win. The Hartbergers achieved their first victory after five rounds in which they had only scored one point under Schopp’s predecessor Klaus Schmidt.
Comments on the game:
Christian Heinle (Ried coach): “The defeat is very bitter. We tried extremely hard. If you have four 100% chances to score in the first half and don’t concede a shot on goal, you have to lead. We missed everything in the first 15 to 20 minutes after the break. Then it was clear who scores the first goal has a big advantage. Some of our players weren’t able to retrieve everything today. They tried, but nothing came of it. We had nine players in the starting XI who weren’t even in the Bundesliga a year and a half ago. We also had five injuries. The Sportclub place cost us two players.”
Markus Schop (Hartberg coach): “The three points are above everything, they are incredibly important. We rarely, if ever, won in Ried. After winning the cup against Sport-Club, Ried was a little further along in the process than we were. In the first half we were stable but completely ineffective. We gave the opponent two top chances out of nowhere. In the second half we defended very well and defended well. The three points are well deserved because of the second half.”
Admiral Bundesliga, 17. Round
Sunday:
Ried – Hartberg 0:1 (0:0)
Ried, josko-Arena, 3.080 Zuschauer, SR Lechner
Tor: 0:1 (78.) Frieser
Ried: Wendlinger – Gragger, Turi, Plavotic, Jurisic – Nutz (74th / Michael), Martin, Cosgun (83rd / Chabbi) – Kronberger (74th / Wießmeier), Lang, Mikic (59th / Monschein)
Hartberg: Sallinger – M. Horvat, Sonnleitner (41./Rotter), Karamarko, Pfeifer – Kainz (79./Prokop), Heil – Frieser, Fadinger, Avdijaj (63./Providence) – Kriwak (63./Tadic)
Yellow cards: Cosgun, Monschein or none
The best: Martin or Sallinger, Heil
