Plavotić goal secures seventh win in a row

Austria Wien beat TSV Hartberg 1-0 to close out the 14th round of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga and consolidate third place in the table, level on points with their city rivals. Tin Plavotić scored the golden goal with a header in the second half. Florian Wustinger celebrated his Bundesliga comeback in the final minutes.

Stephan Helm had to make do without the injured Lucas Galvão and also gave Philipp Maybach a break, with Tin Plavotić and Abu Barry replacing him in the starting eleven. Johannes Handl and Florian Wustinger also returned to the squad, both of whom were on the substitutes' bench for the time being.

Few chances in the first half

Austria got off to a good start to the match, moving the ball well and playing well into the opposition's third, with only a lack of dangerous shots to embarrass Hartberg keeper Raphael Sallinger. Aleksandar Dragović & Co defended well and Hartberg were usually stopped early on before things got dicey in the 28th minute. After a cross from ex-Austrian Dominik Prokop, Patrik Mijić got his header on target but put the ball into the side netting.

The visitors had got into the game better at this point, but ultimately both teams lacked the threat to score before the break. When referee Walter Altmann called for the break, the Violets had three shots to their name and Hartberg two.

These numbers increased quite quickly after the break: First Maurice Malone shot from an acute angle, but Sallinger was able to defuse the sharp shot with a foot defence (47'). Şahin-Radlinger was then called into action with an attempt from substitute Marco Hoffman, but he also kept a clean sheet (51').

Plavotić with the golden goal with his head

Dominik Fitz had the best opportunity up to that point after exactly one hour and a neat Malone pass, when he appeared alone in front of Sallinger, who stood still for a long time and was able to deflect the attempted lob from the purple number 36 into the goalmouth. A low finish from Hoffman a little later was again no problem for the purple goalkeeper (63').

Spurred on by over 12,700 fans in the Generali-Arena, the Violets became increasingly dangerous. After an ideal cross from Reini Ranftl, Andi Gruber, who had just come into the game, had a free header, but it was too central (67'). And Tin Plavotić, who had moved up, headed just over the crossbar (69'). A quarter of an hour before the end, Malone narrowly missed a Fitz Stangl pass, which was preceded by a fine one-two between Fitz and Marko Raguž.

In the 78th minute, however, the time had come: Fitz corner, Plavotić header, 1-0 for Austria - a deserved lead for the Violets! Malone then had a go from the edge of the box (84'), but the second goal would not come. Hartberg also had a chance in stoppage time, but Furkan Demir put the ball over the goal (90+2').

Shortly before that, Florian Wustinger celebrated his much-celebrated Bundesliga comeback (89'). In the end, Austria Wien secured their seventh win in a row, including the Cup, and consolidated third place with their sixth Bundesliga victory in a row.

Austria Wien - TSV Hartberg 1-0 (0-0)

Austria: Şahin-Radlinger - Wiesinger, Dragović, Plavotić - Ranftl, Barry (Gruber 66'), Fischer ©, Fitz, Pérez Vinlöf (Guenouche 66') - Prelec (Raguž 74'), Malone (Wustinger 89')

Hartberg: Sallinger - Heil ©, Wilfinger, Komposch, Pfeifer - Kainz, Markus, Prokop (Karamatić 80'), Diarra (Demir 74') - Mijić (Hoffman 46'), Avdijaj (Fillafer 80')

Goal: Plavotić 78'

Yellow cards: Wiesinger 24', Fitz 87'; Wilfinger 6', Kainz 10', Komposch 69', Demir 86'

Generali-Arena, 12,748 spectators; referee Altmann