Win in Hartberg – Austria Wien plays international!

What a fairytale - after his goal in the home game, James Holland also scored in Hartberg and secured Austria's participation in the European Cup in his last game! Interim coach Christian Wegleitner was also able to celebrate a victory in his fourth match, Austria won 1-0 and beat TSV Hartberg 3-1 on aggregate in the play-off final.

Christian Wegleitner only made one change after the win in the first leg against Hartberg: Reinhold Ranftl was fit again and started on the right flank in place of Luca Pazourek.

Markus Schopp opted for team striker Maximilian Entrup, while Dominik Prokop also started in midfield in place of Mamadou Sangare. Maximilian Fillafer was on the bench this time.

Jimmy did it again

The numerous Austria fans in Hartberg saw their team make a strong start. Andreas Gruber had the first (headed) chance early on after a cross from Hakim Guenouche (2'). After winning the ball high up and receiving a pass from Dominik Fitz, Gruber had his next opportunity in the 9th minute, but shot over the goal from a good position. The hosts needed some time to get into the game. Matteo Meisl saved a cross from Donis Avdijaj and shortly afterwards Christian Früchtl saved a shot from Max Entrup (20', 21'). Entrup passed to Früchtl after a long pass from Tobias Kainz, but his shot fortunately hit the bar. Johannes Handl cleared the situation (24'). Früchtl made another excellent save from Entrup, but the Hartberg striker was offside anyway (32').

The Violets then almost took the lead, but Raphael Sallinger in the Styrian goal fished out Tin Plavotić's header from a Fitz corner (35'). Andreas Gruber was forced off after 38 minutes with a thigh injury and Moritz Wels came into the game. After the next corner, however, it was James Holland who put the Viennese in front again: Sallinger missed Fitz's corner kick, but the Hartberg defence came up short. Holland lurked on the edge of the penalty area, outpaced Kainz and scored into the far corner. 0-1 in the 39th minute. Austria went into the half-time break with a two-goal lead across both games.

Violets allowed nothing more

Alexander Schmidt came out of the dressing room in place of Fisnik Asllani and immediately had a chance to score after a cross from Dominik Fitz, but his header went just wide of the goal (47'). At the other end, the duel between Früchtl and Entrup went into another round - the Austria goalie was still unbeatable (49'). In the 59th minute, the bar helped out again as Dominik Prokop hit the aluminium.

After a quick counter-attack, Dominik Fitz got his shot away, but Sallinger prevented the 0-2 (61'). Shortly afterwards, Fitz tried to surprise Sallinger with a long-range shot, but unfortunately the attempt was unsuccessful (64'). There was a double substitution in the 67th minute: Frans Krätzig and Marvin Potzmann replaced Hakim Guenouche and Manfred Fischer.

TSV Hartberg pressed, but the Violet defence remained solid. Kainz hit Handl on the calf in the Hartberg penalty area, but not enough for a penalty in the opinion of referee Walter Altmann (75'). Moritz Wels was sent off with a yellow card in the 83rd minute and Früchtl saved a header from substitute Thomas Rotter (87'). Ten Veilchen fought like lions and defended their goal with man and mouse. Christian Wegleitner made his final change with Luca Pazourek for Dominik Fitz, but Hartberg were unable to find a way past a strong Austria.

The Violets also won the second leg in Hartberg and secured their place in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League with an aggregate score of 3-1.

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

Hartberg: Sallinger; Heil, Komposch, Bowat (77' Diakate), Pfeifer; Sangare, Kainz (86' Rotter), Prokop (60' Providence); Frieser (77' Fillafer), Entrup, Avdijaj

Austria: Früchtl; Handl, Plavotic, Meisl; Ranftl, Fischer (67' Potzmann), Holland, Guenouche (67' Krätzig); Gruber (38' Wels), Asllani (46' Schmidt), Fitz (90+1' Pazourek)

Goal: Holland (39')

Yellow cards: Prokop (55'), Sallinger (76'), Sangare (90+4'); Fitz (78'), Wels (80'), Früchtl (85'), Schmidt (90+4')

Yellow-Red card: Wels (83')

Profertil Arena Hartberg, referee Walter Altmann, 4,000 spectators