Ländle kickers in trouble

Austria Lustenau against WAC from 18.30 LIVE

Cheers from Wolfsberg, shocked faces from Lustenau ...

(Bild: Peter Rinderer / EXPA / picturedesk.com)

Despite a spirited performance, Austria Lustenau have suffered another setback in their fight against relegation! 

Andreas Heraf's team lost 1:2 (0:0) to WAC in the qualifying group of the Bundesliga on Tuesday. This means that the air in the relegation battle is getting thinner and thinner for the team from Vorarlberg with four games to go. Lavanttal, on the other hand, took a big step towards the European Cup play-offs.

Lustenau not rewarded for good performance
Augustine Boakye gave the visitors the lead with his goal in the 50th minute, Lukas Fridrikas equalized in the 77th minute. Thierno Ballo made the difference with a dream goal in the 87th minute. WAC thus celebrated their first win in two months. Lustenau had not won in their last six games and, as in the 1-1 draw on Saturday, were not rewarded for a good performance.

In contrast to Saturday's game, the Vorarlberg side brought three new players onto the pitch and adopted a more attacking approach. Both were noticeable from the start. Namory Cisse knocked at the WAC goal with a shot that was too central (3rd) and a header that went just wide (6th). The home side were the more active team, with WAC only dangerous through transitional play.

Lucky draw at the break for the visitors from Carinthia
Augustine Boakye, who returned to the starting eleven after his injury, had a free shot in the 26th minute, but failed to beat Lustenau goalkeeper Domenik Schierl. His opposite number Lukas Gütlbauer kept the score at 0-0 seven minutes later with a brilliant save from a Kennedy Boateng header. Before the break, WAC captain Mario Leitgeb (40') and again Cisse (44') had chances on the counter-attack, but both failed to score. The goalless draw at the break was particularly fortunate for the visitors from Carinthia.

They shocked the bottom team shortly after the break. Adis Jasic delivered a cross into the middle, Schierl let it bounce directly to the feet of Boakye, who only had to slot it into the net (50'). The game then calmed down somewhat, with WAC continuing to wait for counter-attacks and Lustenau unable to create many chances. That changed in the 77th minute when Fridrikas converted a pass from Anderson to score his fifth goal of the season.

(Bild: GEPA)

The visitors then became more active. First Scherzer failed to beat Schierl with a long-range shot (85'), two minutes later Ballo ensured the final score with a volley from outside the penalty area.

The result:
SC Austria Lustenau - WAC 1:2 (0:0)
Bregenz, ImmoAgentur Stadion, 2798 spectators, referee Lechner

Goals: 0:1 (50') Blakey, 1:1 (77') Fridrikas, 1:2 (87') Ballo

Yellow cards: Lins and Ibertsberger

Lustenau: Schierl - Anderson, Boateng, Lins, Berger - Grabher, Chato (59. Gmeiner), Gorzel (46. Surdanovic) - Bobzien, Cisse, Fridrikas
WAC: Gütlbauer - Diabate, Omic, Scherzer - Veratschnig, Tijani, Leitgeb, Ibertsberger (83. Piesinger) - Jasic (83. Scharfetter) - Ballo, Boakye (65. Zimmermann/90. Sabitzer)

Quotes:

Andreas Heraf (Lustenau coach): "It was a great performance by my team. We played with an open goal from the very first minute and actually deserved to win. In the end, we came away empty-handed. That's the bitter thing about soccer, that luck plays a big role and today it went against us. It's actually gone against us the whole season. We haven't had luck on our side in any game since I've been here. It all fits into the overall picture, but giving up is not an issue. The lads know that they've put in a good performance and they can be proud of what they've achieved."

Manfred Schmid (WAC coach): "I'm glad that we've ended this dilemma. Big praise to the team. We've always been missing players this season, we always have to make changes and the players did that well again today. We were clearly better in the second half and the win was more than deserved."