Bitter defeat against Blau-Weiß Linz

Austria suffered a 0-1 defeat at home to Blau-Weiß Linz. Shon Weissman scored the only goal of the evening from a penalty (79'), and a late surge was not enough to secure an equalizer.

Before Saturday's home game against the tenth-placed team from Linz, the motto was quite clear: a fifth win in a row was needed. It wasn't just the fans who saw it that way; 12,857 had turned up. Head coach Stephan Helm warned of Linz's offensive power and had to make all kinds of adjustments to his lineup: Reini Ranftl moved into the back three to replace Philipp Wiesinger, who was suspended after receiving a yellow-red card, while Luca Pazourek started on the right wing. Manprit Sarkaria replaced Abu Barry, who was also suspended, and played in the number eight position. Dominik Nišandžić, another home-grown player, was delighted to be included in the matchday squad.

Uneventful first half

The Violets started more confidently. Eggestein skillfully set up Botić from the corner of the penalty area, but goalkeeper Baier was ready (6'). The spectacle of play was slow to materialize at first: Linz cautiously felt their way into the game, venturing deeper into Şahin-Radlinger's half with each passing minute and knocking on the door once after a quarter of an hour. The Austria goalkeeper just managed to deflect a Briedl attempt for a corner (18'). The Violets responded immediately: Tae-seok Lee fired the ball into the west stand after a pass from Fischer (21'), before the South Korean spotted Noah Botić in the six-yard box, where Moormann got to the ball first (22'). The Australian created chances before the break, but was too imprecise after passes from Pazourek (29') and Šaljić (31'). The Linz team, who had become passive in the meantime, had a real chance: Goiginger aimed just centimeters wide of the far corner shortly before the half-time whistle (44').

Weissman cool as ice from the penalty spot

The Violets wanted it. Radonjić flicked a well-timed Šaljić cross just over the bar (47'), and a corner from the same player fell to Fischer's feet – Maranda cleared off the line (54'). The picture from the first half seemed to be repeating itself. Neither side was able to play fluidly, neutralizing each other. The Steel City team rarely made an impact in the final third, but when they did, it was explosive: Maranda received a deflected Goiginger cross but failed to connect properly with the ball (65'). Then: a fateful whistle. Philipp Maybach touched Mensah's foot, referee Pfister seemed convinced, and Weissman beat Şahin-Radlinger from the spot (79').

Baier secures Linz's away win

Austria fought back. After some nice work from Sanel Šaljić, substitute Marko Raguž failed to convert (84'), Baier fished a clearance attempt from a teammate out of the far corner (90+1), Maranda heroically slid in to block a shot from Fischer, and the header from Şahin-Radlinger, who had moved up, was no problem for Baier. The score remained 0-1.  

Austria Wien – Blau-Weiß Linz 0-1 (0-0)

Austria: Şahin-Radlinger; Ranftl, Dragović, Radonjić (81. Raguž); Pazourek (87. Guenouche), Sarkaria (74. Maybach), Fischer ©, Lee; Šaljić, Eggestein, Botić (74. Boateng).

BW Linz: Baier; Maranda ©, Bakatukanda, Moormann (69. Varesi-Strauss); Reiter, Cvetko, Fofana, Pirkl; Ronivaldo (60. Mensah), Goiginger, Weissman (88. Wähling)

Goal: Weissman (79./E.)

Generali Arena, 12,857 fans; referee Daniel Pfister