A commanding win to reach the third qualifying round

Die Austria fixierte im Rückspiel der zweiten Qualifikationsrunde der UEFA Conference League gegen den  FK Liepāja mit einem [Ergebnis einfügen]-Heimsieg den Aufstieg in die dritte Qualifikationsrunde. [Torschützen einfügen] trafen für die Violetten vor heimischem Publikum. In der kommenden Runde trifft die Austria am Donnerstag, den 6. August, entweder auf Beitar Jerusalem oder den FK Larnaka.

For the return leg in Vienna, manager Stephan Helm made a few minor changes to his starting line-up compared with the previous week’s match in Latvia: Samuel Şahin-Radlinger was once again in goal, with the same back three of Ibrahim Buhari, Jonas Feddersen and Kang Hee Lee in defence. Reinhold Ranftl, Florian Wustinger and Philip Maybach lined up in midfield, with the latter replacing Manfred Fischer, whilst Matteo Schablas also featured. Up front, Helm opted for Vasilije Marković and Julian Hettwer, and Kelvin Boateng made his comeback straight into the starting line-up after missing pre-season. Reinhold Ranftl took over the captain’s armband from Manfred Fischer.

Aleksander Dragović was absent after suffering a mild concussion in the cup match against Wiener Sport-Club, whilst the injured Philipp Wiesinger was also still sidelined. In contrast to the first leg, the Latvians’ starting line-up featured former Veilchen Marvin Martins, who had missed the previous week’s match due to a red-card suspension.

An inauspicious start

The match got off to a disappointing start for the Veilchen: following a long-range shot from Patijcuks, Şahin-Radlinger parried the ball forward, straight to the feet of Haïdara, who slotted home to give the visitors an early lead (4'). Things continued in quick succession: Marvin Martins, who had only just returned from his red-card suspension, was shown a red card for a foul on Kelvin Boateng, who was through on goal (8'), though the resulting free-kick landed straight in the hands of the opposition goalkeeper.

In the minutes that followed, the Latvians kept breaking into the Violets’ final third despite being a man down. Shortly before the water break, Jonas Feddersen held his ground against several opponents a few metres outside the penalty area and slotted the ball low into the right-hand corner to equalise (20'). After that, the Latvians had more possession but failed to pose a threat – instead, the Violets provided the next cause for celebration: Matteo Schablas set off from his own half, drove through the entire middle third past several opponents and played the ball to Ranftl on the right wing, who laid it off to Vasilije Marković in the centre. Although the goalkeeper parried Marković’s shot, the ball rebounded straight to Boateng’s feet, and he slotted it home to take the lead (29').

The Veilchen went on to create a few more good chances: Marković was denied after a pass from new signing Julian Hettwer on the right wing (39'), before, shortly afterwards, following a strong win for the ball on the byline, he picked out Boateng at the near post – but his chip over the goalkeeper was saved by Petrović (43'). Shortly before half-time, Matteo Schablas tried his luck again, finding himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper following a fine through ball from Philipp Maybach, but hesitated too long and was denied by the keeper. After their shaky start, the Veilchen created good chances, particularly through quick transitions – and went into the break leading 2–1.

Ranftl makes it 3–1

At the start of the second half, Stephan Helm brought on Johannes Handl for Florian Wustinger, with Lee moving into the holding midfield role. In the opening minutes, the Violets largely let the visitors dictate play whilst waiting for counter-attacking opportunities. In the 57th minute, Marković won a corner; Ibrahim Buhari then had a shot on goal following a rebound in the penalty area, but miscued it, sending the ball wide of the far post. Helm’s side created several good half-chances in the minutes that followed, before the visitors’ net was breached again in the 66th minute: Fischer kept his cool just outside the penalty area and laid the ball off to Ranftl, who slotted it low into the left-hand corner to make it 3–1.

In contrast to the first half, the second half was much less eventful: Ranftl ran onto a pass from Fischer on the right, but his cross into the penalty area found no takers (81'). In the 86th minute, the Violets put together a fine move down the right flank: Marković played the ball to Hasan Deshishku, who in turn found Eggestein – but his shot went wide of the goal; in any case, the linesman had already raised his flag. In stoppage time, Eggestein had another promising shot, but it was saved (93').

The Veilchen advance to the next qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League with an aggregate score of 5–1.

Austria Wien – FK Liepāja 3–1 (2–1)

Austria: Şahin-Radlinger; Buhari (60' Toifl), Kang Hee Lee (60' Fischer), Feddersen; Ranftl, Wustinger (46' Handl), Maybach, Schablas; Marković, Boateng (60' Eggestein), Hettwer (72' Deshishku)

Liepāja: Petrović; Straalman, Martins, Isajevs, Sorokins (68’ Korobenko); Strumia, Ekou (68' Patijčuks); Haidara (72' Leite), Patikcuks (72' Lakutis), Ogunniyi; Oloko

Goals: Haïdara (4'), Feddersen (20'), Boateng (29'), Ranftl (66')

Yellow cards: Strumia (16'), Hettwer (12'), Ekou (34')

Red cards: Marvin Martins (8')

Franz Horr Stadion, referee Luca Zufferli; attendance: 8,300