WAC gets “i-Punkt” – Austria winters in double digits – Football –

Wolfsberger, SKN St. Pölten, TSV Hartberg and SV Ried, who triumphed 3-1 in Innsbruck on Sunday, follow from sixth to ninth. The Wattener and Innviertler separate four tiles. Austria spent the winter in a double digit place on the table. Now eight rounds without a win have gotten the Viennese even more in trouble. With a 1: 1 against LASK thanks to a heroic feat by Patrick Pentz, there were exhausted faces, but also satisfied at the end of the year.

The explosion took place in Wals-Siezenheim, but not in the dominator’s camp in previous years, but with the stranger. After a glamorous but mixed European fall in the league, the WAC victory came as “a point over this year of superlatives,” as coach Ferdinand Feldhofer put it. Eliel Peretz finished off Lavanttaler’s success after a 2-0 lead and a 2-2 intermediate result in the 79th minute.

“If someone had told us that we would be third in the Europa League, we would dominate the group stage with ease, we would go back to the quarter-finals of the cup and hibernate in the top six … I don’t think much more is possible,” he said. Feldhofer. In the league, he’s back in the top half of the table for the first time since the second round. And in the addendum against Sturm Graz on January 17, you still have the opportunity to bridge the gap.

The recovery phase is now fairly short, but no less necessary, even if he is on track to start a series with two league wins en suite. “The breakup is not a disgrace, honestly,” Feldhofer said. “It was a great final. The last matches were of a very high level, but we are still happy that the break has come.”

In the Vienna distribution circle, the violet emotions after Pentz’s penalty shootout against Rene Renner in the 97th minute. The Austrian goalkeeper failed to save his team for the first time this fall. One was “at least a little rewarded,” Pentz said of the giveaway. One point doesn’t really help Austria anymore. In the spring, the favorites, who are financially more than poor, have to win victories to keep their chances of winning the championship group alive.

The fact that the table shows the implacable truth is not denied in sports management. “There’s always something missing in this and that area. If something is missing every week, that’s also missing from the table. That’s quite a bit,” said Peter Stöger. Austria would be “justified where it is”. The fact that at least a draw against the highly rated LASK has been achieved thanks to a lot of race work is good for their battered team ahead of the league break, the Viennese coach judged.

It is well known that a new investor should bring a new investor to sporting violet times and, above all, more financially optimistic. Board chairman Markus Kraetschmer confirmed to Sky in the run-up to the game that there were “multiple stakeholders” and that the offers were being “modified.” Stakeholders should come from the American region, but also from Germany and “other continents”.

Kraetschmer also struck out at critics in the interview. “A lot of rats are now coming out of holes that had been missing for a while,” he said. In times of crisis, it is often “very lonely on the bridge,” said the longtime Austrian manager. He is currently responsible for everything that went wrong at the club. Kraetschmer, whose contract expires next July, stressed that he was not a saddle glue: “If the solution is for Austria to succeed again, if Markus Kraetschmer does not exist, then they should do this solution. I have none.” Problem with that. “

On the table, Austria was slowed down by Ried for the time being. The “Schweitzer effect” was noticed with the Innviertel team: after taking over from the long-time assistant, who instead of Gerald Baumgartner, who was on leave, is in charge of affairs until a new head coach is found , the first away win of the season worked immediately. The Rieder deservedly won in Innsbruck.

“Six minutes, three goals, we were very determined. Then the most important 20 minutes was keeping exactly that. Congratulations on keeping it that way,” Gerhard Schweitzer said of his team’s brilliant comeback after the restart. Marco Grüll scored on penalties, Bernd Gschweidl and Ante Bajic. “If we learn from this loss, it can be positive,” WSG coach Thomas Silberberger tried to find something good. The Wattener are still fifth. “But the table position is brutally misleading. We would do well to keep watching Altach and Admira.”