Austria in the league phase of the Women’s Champions League!

The Violets have reached the league phase of the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the first time. At the Franz-Horr-Stadion, the women in violet put in a strong performance and won 4–0. Modesta Uka scored three goals, whilst the fourth was an own goal by the Norwegian side. Austria thus overturned their 1–2 deficit from the first leg to win 5–2 on aggregate.

The Veilchen got off to a strong start. As early as the 2nd minute, Patricia Pfanner posed a threat with her first shot on goal and won a corner. Just two minutes later, Modesta Uka tried her luck with a shot at goal, but the Norwegian defence managed to clear the ball.

The Viennese side kept up the pressure: in the 9th minute, Elisa Pfattner played the ball to Verena Hanshaw, who got a shot away but could only hit the side netting. A minute later, Pfanner’s shot also went narrowly wide of the goal. The Violets continued to turn up the pressure and consistently looked to push forward.

Uka puts the Violets ahead

In the 19th minute, the moment finally arrived. First, Pötzl was brought down, and shortly afterwards Uka went down in the penalty area. The referee pointed to the spot. Uka stepped up herself and confidently converted the penalty to give her side a 1–0 lead.

Brann kept trying to string together moves going forward, but could barely find a way through the compact Violet defence. A corner for the Norwegians in the 23rd minute came to nothing. In the 40th minute, Brann had another shot on goal, but Jasmin Pal dived low to save the ball.

The Violets remained a threat in attack too. Valentina Pötzl and Uka kept creating chances, but a second goal failed to materialise before half-time. The teams went into the break with the score at 1–0.

Uka strikes again – Brann helps out

After the break, the Violets picked up where they left off. Two free-kicks initially failed to yield another goal, but in the 50th minute, Uka struck again: following a free-kick, the ball came back to the striker, who fired off a shot without hesitation. Although the Brann goalkeeper stretched to her full height, the shot first struck the post and then bounced into the net. 2–0 to the Veilchen!

The Viennese side showed no let-up and pressed for the decisive goal. In the 59th minute, Kathi Schiechtl delivered a precise free-kick towards goal, but the Norwegian goalkeeper managed to parry the ball away. Virginia Kirchberger followed up with a header from the rebound, but sent the ball over the bar.

Lotta Cordes also had a chance to score again in the 61st minute, but an opponent managed to clear the ball just in time. In the 66th minute, the score became 3–0. A Norwegian player tried to play the ball back to her goalkeeper, but she failed to control the back pass properly. The ball rolled into the net, giving the Veilchen their third goal.

Uka completes her hat-trick

The Veilchen were now determined to seal the victory once and for all. In the 71st minute, Uka was played in following a cross from Schöffel, but her shot was saved. Two minutes later, Uka set up Pfattner from a free-kick, but the goalkeeper was able to save her shot as well.

In the 77th minute, it was Uka once again who sparked celebrations. The forward stepped up to take the free-kick and coolly converted it to make it 4–0, thereby completing her personal hat-trick.

The Violets seal promotion

Brann were also forced to finish the match a player down from the 81st minute onwards after a player was shown a second yellow card. The Violets didn’t let anything slip in the closing stages and saw out the clear victory comfortably.

In the end, the Viennese women celebrated a 4–0 home win. Following their 1–2 defeat in the first leg, the Violets turned the third qualifying round around in impressive fashion and prevailed with an aggregate score of 5–2. It is now official: the Violets are through to the league phase!

Austria Wien vs. SK Brann 4–0 (1–0)

Austria: Pal – Wenninger, Schiechtl, Kirchberger – Schöffel, Pfattner, Cordes (90+2’ Orkić), Hanshaw (Schorn 90+2’) – Pötzl (Šišić 90+2’), Uka (Jakobsen 87’), Pfanner (Weiss 79’)

Goals: Uka (19., 50., 78.), Skoglund (66., own goal)

Yellow card (Austria): Pal (26.)

Franz-Horr-Stadion, 1,950 fans; referee Eleni Antoniou