Bitter defeat against WAC

A pitch-black afternoon for Violett! In the 31st round of the Admiral Bundesliga, the Violets were beaten 0-4 by Wolfsberger AC. Tijani, Ballo, Piesinger and Boakye scored for the Carinthians. Austria slipped back to second place in the qualifying group behind the Carinthians, but after the defeat of Blau Weiß Linz they are now through to the semi-finals of the European Cup play-offs.

The last home game of the final round was once again full of suspense. Wolfsberger AC, the Violets' first rivals, were the guests at the Generali-Arena. With a win, the Violets could have sealed victory in the qualifying round. The Wimmer team had a lot to make up for after the painful 2-0 defeat in Lustenau and the head coach was expecting a reaction.

Violets with a slight advantage

The match began on an even keel. The Violets had their first notable opportunity in the 12th minute when Asllani fired over from 12 metres. Shortly afterwards, the WAC came forward. First Galvão saved from Scharfetter, who was ready to shoot (14‘), then the assistant referee Walter Altmann ruled that Veratschnig's goal was correctly offside (16’). The Violets then established a clear advantage on the pitch, with Fitz lobbing Krätzig, who had picked up speed down the left. The Bayern loanee found Fisnik Asllani on the edge of the penalty area, who first fooled Piesinger and then forced Gütlbauer into a brilliant save (26'). Minutes later, Ranftl found himself alone in front of the WAC goal after a marvellous combination, but was denied by the Wolfsburg goalkeeper - a possible goal would probably not have counted after a handball by Fitz (30').

Tijani takes the lead

Not quite in line with the course of the game, Carinthia were suddenly celebrating. Samson Tijani took advantage of a rebound to take the lead with an artistic shot from 22 metres (37'). The Violets‘ reply followed promptly: Wels saw Asllani narrowly miss from twelve metres (41’), Fischer's finish lacked power (45'). The score remained 0-1.

After the restart, things went haywire. Altmann was adjudged to have committed a forward foul after Veratschnigg scored (46‘), Ballo failed to centre the ball in a promising position (47’) and Gruber found Gütlbauer at the other end (50'). Ballo then took off in the penalty area, referee Altmann pointed to the penalty spot after a VAR check - the fouled player himself scored to make it 2-0 (55').

A pitch-black afternoon

A short time later, Altmann was once again the centre of attention when he denied the Violets a corner after a deflected Ranftl shot. According to the referee, Michael Wimmer's complaints were a little too vehement and the head coach was sent to the stands (60').

And the afternoon didn't get any better if you were to agree with the Violets. Piesinger, who was criminally left alone, only had to keep his head after a corner (76'), Boakye scored in stoppage time to make the final score 0-4.

Austria slipped back to second place in the table and are two points behind Wolfsberg with one round to go in the qualifying group. As Blau Weiß Linz also lost, the Violets are at least guaranteed a place in the play-off semi-finals.

Austria Vienna - Wolfsberger AC 0-4 (0-1)

Austria: Früchtl; Handl, Plavotić (62' Vučić), Galvão; Ranftl, Wels, Fischer, Krätzig (80' Guenouche); Gruber (74' Šaljić), Fitz, Asllani (62' Husković)

Wolfsberg: Gütlbauer; Baumgartner, Jasić (64' Müller), Piesinger, Omić, Kennedy; Altunaschwilli, Ballo (81' Karamoko), Tijani; Scharfetter (69' Boakye), Veratschnig (81' Diabate)

Goals: Tijani (37'), Ballo (55'/Penalty), Piesinger (76'), Boakye (90+2')

Yellow: Fitz (7'), Fischer (67'), Galvão (90+4'); Ballo (28'), Kennedy (90+5')

Yellow-Red: Wimmer (60')

SR Walter Altmann; Generali-Arena, 11,996 spectators