1–2 defeat in Altach

As had been the case in Ried, Austria had to return home empty-handed from Altach despite Johannes Eggestein opening the scoring. Goals from Patrick Greil and Yann Massombo turned the match in the Vorarlberg side’s favour.

Aleksandar Dragović was still unavailable to Stephan Helm, so our head coach made one change to his starting line-up: Julian Hettwer started up front in place of Sanel Šaljić. Altach manager Ognjen Zaric kept his starting eleven unchanged despite last week’s 0–3 defeat in Salzburg.

Eggestein put the Veilchen ahead shortly before half-time

The home side had the first chances of the match: Niklas Niehoff shot over the bar, whilst a shot from Ousmane Diawara lacked any real threat (8’, 12’). Hettwer was stopped by Yann Massombo as he made his way into the penalty area; Johannes Eggestein fired the resulting free-kick from a good position over the bar (17’). Former Austria Wien player Vesel Demaku had to leave the pitch early due to injury; Yanis Eisschill came on after 20 minutes.

A shot by Eggestein following a high ball win went wide of the goal, whilst Samuel Şahin-Radlinger was alert to a cross from Rodney Elongo-Yombo (28’, 32’). Our goalkeeper also had no trouble dealing with a header from Diawara (38'). In the 40th minute, the Austria fans who had travelled to Vorarlberg had reason to celebrate. Following a lengthy passing move, Daniel Nnodim played the ball into the centre; Manfred Fischer held onto it, and Eggestein calmly slotted it into the left-hand corner – 0–1.

The teams went into the break with the Viennese holding a narrow lead.

Altach turned the game around after the break

After the break, Eggestein had another chance, but Dejan Stojanovic in the Altach goal parried the German’s fine shot for a corner (52’). The assist came from Julian Hettwer, who made way for Kelvin Boateng shortly afterwards. Kang Hee Lee also came on for Vasilije Marković in what was a tight contest.

When Massombo had a chance, Şahin-Radlinger, together with Johannes Handl, prevented Altach from equalising (63’). At the other end, Boateng tried to catch Stojanović off guard at the near post after a one-two with Fischer, but was unsuccessful (67’). Just a minute later, Taeseok Lee shot over the bar.

Instead of making it 0–2, the Violets unfortunately had to concede the 1–1; Patrick Greil curled a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area into the top corner (70'). Greil almost added another goal, but a shot towards the far corner in the 75th minute went narrowly wide. In the 80th minute, Altach had turned the game around; a deflected shot from Massombo made it 2–1.

Sanel Šaljić replaced Daniel Nnodim for the final minutes. Another goal for the home side, scored by substitute Shingo Nakano, was disallowed for offside; Şahin-Radlinger saved a shot from Diawara (88th, 90th). Fischer and Buhari both shot wide of the goal in stoppage time. Austria lost 1–2 in Altach.  

SCR Altach – Austria Wien 2–1 (0–1)

Altach: Stojanovic; Zech, Milojevic, Jäger; Niehoff (62’ Naschberger), Massombo, Demaku (21’ Eisschill), Greil, Böckle; Elongo-Yombo (62’ Nakano), Diawara

Austria: Şahin-Radlinger; Ranftl, Handl, Buhari; Nnodim (85’ Šaljić), Fischer, Müller, Marković (57’ Kang Hee Lee), Taeseok Lee; Hettwer (57’ Boateng), Eggestein

Goals: Greil (70'), Massombo (80'); Eggestein (40')

Yellow cards: Massombo (16'); Kang Hee Lee (69'), Buhari (87')

Schnabelholz Stadium, 4,245 spectators, referee Arnes Talic