1-2 defeat in Hartberg

Two goals by Dario Tadic made Austria Wien lose in Hartberg, the interim equalizer by Benedikt Pichler was not enough.

Despite the defeat by Red Bull Salzburg, Peter Stöger made no changes in his starting line-up. Michael Madl (ligament tear in the knee joint) and Vesel Demaku (shoulder dislocation) were injured, Georg Teigl was back in the squad.

Hartberg played 1-1 against Wattens but is still at the bottom in the standings. Coach Markus Schopp made two changes, Abdoul Yoda and Jürgen Heil moved into the A team.

Tadic scored the lead for Hartberg, Pichler equalized

Sascha Horvath and Christoph Monschein tried their luck with shots from afar in the initial phase, but both goalkeepers had little trouble (4’, 5’). Johannes Handl finished after nice dribbling but missed the goal (7’). After a corner kick by Horvath, the home team took the lead in the 10^th minute. Benedikt Pichler deflected Thomas Rotter's header to the crossbar, Dario Tadic scored.

Austria Wien tried to equalize, but initially struggled. A shot by Manprit Sarkaria just missed the goal (26’), but Benedikt Pichler then scored the 1-1 in the 33^rd minute. Our number 11 slipped past Andreas Lienhart after a free kick from Sarkaria and scored into the corner with a header.

Pichler then had two chances to score again, but failed on Hartberg’s goalkeeper Rene Swete (34’, 37’). With the 1-1 the break started.

Tadic scored again

Shortly after the restart, Dario Tadic again scored the lead for Hartberg with a fantastic free kick, Patrick Pentz was unable to save the powerful shot into the corner (47’) - 2-1. After a shot by Patrick Wimmer, Christoph Monschein had the chance to equalize three minutes later, but his shot went over the goal. On the other side, Horvath narrowly missed the goal after a cross by Lienhart (51’). After a cross from Markus Suttner, Monschein had another chance, but Christian Klem successfully threw himself into his finish (53’).

Peter Stöger made two changes in the 62^nd minute, Aleksandar Jukić and Bright Edomwonyi came for Thomas Ebner and Patrick Wimmer. A long-range shot by Sarkaria went well past the goal (64’), Jukić hit the side netting with a free kick (78’). Edomwonyi intercepted a back pass from Ertlthaler, ran to Swete alone, but missed - by far the best chance to equalize (79’). Shortly before the end, Georg Teigl came into the game for Alexander Grünwald, but the result didn’t change.

Austria Wien lost 2-1 but has the chance to take revenge in the UNIQA ÖFB Cup on Tuesday.

TSV Prolactal Hartberg - FK Austria Wien 2-1 (1-1)

Hartberg: Swete; Lienhart, Rotter, Luckeneder, Klem; Kainz, Yoda (66’ Ertlthaler); Heil, Rep, Horvath (73’ Gollner); Tadic (89’ Chabbi)

Austria Wien: Pentz; Zwierschitz, Handl, Palmer-Brown, Suttner; Ebner (62’ Jukić); Wimmer (62’ Edomwonyi), Sarkaria, Grünwald (86’ Teigl), Pichler; Monschein

Goals: Tadic (10’, 47’); Pichler (33’)

Yellow cards: Swete (69’), Luckeneder (90’+2’), Klem (90’+2’)

Profertil Arena Hartberg, referee Dieter Muckenhammer