Six duels were on the program on the 21st match day of the Bundesliga. At the WAC, ex-Austria coach Manfred Schmid celebrated his premiere as coach of Wolfsberger in the home game against Austria Lustenau. Schmidt would certainly have imagined the debut differently. Because the Carinthians had to make do with a man less from the 22nd minute after the red card for Simon Piesinger.
Austria Klagenfurt had a perfect start against TSV Hartberg. Markus Pink gave the Klagenfurt team the lead in the 9th minute after a Blauensteiner cross. After the goal in the 9th minute, the Klagenfurt team didn’t have nearly as great a chance anymore. In the table, Klagenfurt overtook WSG Tirol and Austria Wien and moved up to fifth place.
The Altachers were also able to celebrate an early lead at home against Ried. Bähre made it 1-0 for Miroslav Klose’s team after eight minutes. But Rieder answered in the 34th minute. After a free kick by Stefan Nutz, Gragger headed in to make it 1-1. Substitute Christoph Monschein then scored the decisive goal in favor of Rieder (76′). In the table, SV Ried, which won for the first time after eight games without a win, holds 17 points with one round to go. The new bottom light Altach has one point less on the account.
Sturm Graz is still in the single digits behind leader Salzburg after a 3-1 (1-1) home win against Wiener Austria. In the penultimate round of the regular season, the Styrians achieved a well-deserved victory against Violette, who were still fighting for the championship group. Emanuel Emegha (34′, 65′), who had been waiting for his first goal of the spring, scored the goals in a double and Manprit Sarkaria (71′) with a penalty. Haris Tabakovic (36th) made it 1-1 in the meantime.
Graz are still nine points behind Salzburg after the 21st lap. In the end, Sturm is in action with WSG Tirol, which is also still in the race for the top six. Austria will meet Rapid at home in the big Vienna derby next Sunday. Coach Michael Wimmer’s team is sixth, one point ahead of WSG.
As expected, Rapid had the upper hand in the game against WSG Tirol from the start. Despite the overwhelming superiority and a big chance, the Hütteldorfer did not see a goal. That changed in the closing stages of the game. In the 74th minute, Strunz saved the Barisic team and put his team ahead with a precise shot. Guido Burgstaller was responsible for the decision with his header in the 87th minute.
Thanks to a strong second half, Salzburg secured a 2-0 win at LASK. After an intense first half of the game, the goals on both sides were initially a long time coming. Sekou Koita (54′) and Nicolas Seiwald (72′) finally scored the visitors’ goals, who after an open exchange of blows in the first half got down to business after the break.
After two draws (0:0, 1:1) in a row, Salzburg again achieved a complete success over Linz. In the table, one lap before the end of the regular season, they are nine points ahead of their closest pursuer, Sturm Graz. Another eight points behind, LASK ranks third, after five unbeaten rounds it was the first defeat of Dietmar Kühbauer’s team.