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Patrick Wimmer (46th) and Manprit Sarkaria (75th) gave efficient Austria their second win of the season at Tivoli Innsbruck. With seven points, Austria ranks fifth before Sunday’s games and has now won three competitive games in a row against Wattens. The Tyrolese, who have four points, were also without a win in their eighth straight home game.
Vesel Demaku had to help as a right back in Austria. Unlike Peter Stöger’s second change to the starting eleven, Maximilian Sax, he should take a chance. At the WSG, manager Thomas Silberberger let Nikolai Baden Frederiksen break in alongside veteran Zlatko Dadic, while Ranny Smith made his starting lineup debut in left midfield.
The opening phase was careful palpation and the consequence of WSG failing to score a goal early for the first time this season. No offensive series could be staged at all in the episode, with two (harmless) shots on target at halftime. “Stand firm with two behind four so that zero is,” WSG coach Thomas Silberberger claimed before the game. His plan resulted in Austria’s weaker half of this young season.
But the first moments after the break were already turbulent. First, Austria took the lead with a curious goal: WSG goalkeeper Ferdinand Oswald defended an overhead shot from Christoph Monschein, Fabian Koch shot Wimmer during clarifying action, causing the ball to enter the goal from the bottom edge of the crossbar. The fifth was Austria’s first goal of the season out of the game.
On the other hand, goalkeeper Patrick Pentz was there against Raffael Behounek (48th) and against Zlatko Dedic (50th). A violent shot from Koch hissed at the outside net (61st). And while Austria’s playful performance remained manageable, Pentz did his best: the goalkeeper repaired Erik Palmer-Brown’s fumble with a strong reflex against Kelvin Yeboah (68th).
Although the possible change of course in the game did not materialize, Austria made the decision on the counterattack. Sarkaria put after a double with Wimmer – but from a narrow offside position – to 2-0 (75th). The striker also benefited from his slip at the end, because that gave the ball an unorthodox trajectory and left Oswald with no defense. The Tyrolese did not recover from this low blow.
