The Viennese had a better start in the early stages. The Viennese needed only a few minutes for their first great opportunity: after a free kick Marvin Martins shot from eleven meters but thundered over the crossbar. But Michael Wimmer’s team rewarded themselves for the spell of pressure.
The shot stopped by Fisnik Aslani turned out to be an assist for Gruber, who passed the ball past Hartberg goalkeeper Rafael Salinger. Gruber scored four of Austria’s only five goals this season. The Violets did not give up, continuing to press early on, but equalized almost immediately. After a throw-in, Avdijaj headed to Tobias Kenz, Christian Fruchtl responded with a great save from a few meters (12th).
Hartberger’s reply came shortly before the break. Fruchtl had no chance when Avdijaz fired a shot into the far corner following a counter-attack. After the break it looked as if the Austrians had caught themselves, with Dominic Fitz firing home a shot from an excellent position.
Of all people, Fruchtal, who had been strong up to that point, scored to give Hartberg a 2–1 win. The German completely misjudged Salinger’s miss and Avdijaj had complete freedom to score his second goal of the afternoon. A reckless action by Diakite gave Austria hope again. The midfielder, who had already been warned, hit Manfred Fischer too hard and had to leave the pitch. Shope and Wimmer then tried to freshen up the game with substitutions. Hartberg’s increasingly dense defensive line remained inaccessible to Austria, which had no idea.
Furthermore, WSG Tirol won in the basement duel against Austria Lustenau. The Watten team celebrated their first win of the season on Sunday by beating Austria Lustenau 3-2 (2-0) in the seventh round and moved level with Vienna Austria and Blau-Weiss Linz on points. On the other hand, bottom side Vorarlberg still have only two points and have lost all four home games this season.
Kofi Schultz (38th) and Nick Prelec (42nd) ensured a comfortable lead for WSG at the break. The Lustenauers responded with two goals from Anthony Schmid (50th, 56th) before Lucas Sulzbacher scored the decisive goal for the visitors (62nd).
