2:1 away win - Austria turns game in Wolfsberg

Wolfsberger AC took an early lead through Thorsten Röcher, Andreas Gruber equalized before the break. Marco Djuričin scored the 2-1 winner a few minutes after his substitution.

Coach Manfred Schmid stuck with the three-man backline against WAC, mirroring the opponent's system. The suspended Lucas Galvão was replaced in central defense by Johannes Handl. Instead of the injured Florian Wustinger and Muharem Husković, the recovered James Holland and Andreas Gruber started.

The Carinthians won 1-0 in the Europa Conference League play off against Molde FK on Thursday, coach Robin Dutt left his starting eleven unchanged despite the increased workload.

WAC took the lead, Gruber equalized

The hosts from Wolfsberg had a better start, Thorsten Röcher and Simon Piesinger had the first minor chances, but they were unsuccessful (7th, 14th). Robin Dutt had to change early, center back Dominik Baumgartner had to go out injured after only 10 minutes. WAC still took the lead, Röcher scoring after a Konstantin Kerschbaumer free kick to make it 1:0 in the 16th minute.

Andreas Gruber was whistled back by referee Christian-Petru Ciochirca for a supposed offside in a promising position. Why the scene was not checked by the VAR after the fact remains questionable (24.). In turn, Christian Früchtl was able to distinguish himself with a chance from Röcher (25.). Austria had its first chance after half an hour, but Andi Gruber shot over. A short time later, however, the newcomer scored: Gruber converted a dream pass from Dominik Fitz ice-coldly to equalize (36th).

The score remained unchanged until halftime - 1:1 at the break.

Marco Djuričin came, saw and scored!

The violets came out of the dressing room better. A shot by Manfred Fischer was blocked by Adis Jasic, a nice goal by Matthias Braunöder was disallowed because of an offside position by Andreas Gruber (54th, 58th). After that Manfred Schmid made double changes, Aleksandar Jukić and Marco Djuričin came on for James Holland and Dominik Fitz.

A few minutes after his substitution, Marco Djuričin was on target. After a fantastic cross from Billy Koumetio, Gruber passed the ball to Djuričin, who pushed the ball over the line for 1:2 - already his 7th goal against WAC (65.).

Austria had the Wolfsberg offense well under control, a shot by substitute Nikolaos Vergos went wide of the goal (76th). Haris Tabaković came into the game a quarter of an hour before the end for Andreas Gruber, who was very strong today. Djuričin tried a long shot, but WAC goalkeeper Hendrik Bonmann was on the spot (82nd). Aleksandar Jukić shot over the goal in the 90th minute. The Lavanttalers had one last chance through Nikolas Veratschnig, but the ball missed (90.+3).

In the end, Austria deservedly beat Wolfsberger AC and left the last place in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga table.

RZ Pellets WAC - FK Austria Wien 1:2 (1:1)

WAC: Bonmann; Novak, Baumgartner (11. Gugganig), Piesinger, Schifferl, Jasic (68. Veratschnig); Kerschbaumer, Vizinger, Leitgeb (77. Taferner); Röcher (68. Vergos), Baribo

Austria: Früchtl; Ranftl, Handl, Mühl, Koumetio, Martins; Braunöder, Fischer, Holland (63. Jukić); Gruber (77. Tabaković), Fitz (63. Djuričin)

Goals: Röcher (16.); Gruber (36.), Djuričin (65.)

Yellow cards: Vergos (79.); Ranftl (35.), Djuričin (90.+5)

Lavanttal-Arena, referee Christian-Petru Ciochirca, 3.666 spectators