Bundesliga

Wolfsberger AC against Blau-Weiß Linz LIVE from 5pm

Jubilation at Blau-Weiß Linz

(Bild: GEPA)

Blau-Weiß Linz have ended WAC's run of success and kept their chances of making it into the Champions Group alive. The Linzers won 2:1 (1:0) in Wolfsberg on Sunday and go into the final matchday of the basic round just one point behind the top six. Meanwhile, WAC's run of seven unbeaten Bundesliga matches came to an end, but the Carinthians remain third.

Brazilian Anderson (36') and Simon Pirkl (87') scored for the Linzers in the Lavanttal. For Wolfsberg, Thierno Ballo's equalizer (71') was not enough. Blau-Weiß Linz will host Hartberg next week. City rivals LASK are also within reach. Rapid, whose game against Hartberg was not yet over, can also still be caught up.

Kühbauer has to rebuild
WAC coach Dietmar Kühbauer had to rebuild his defense after the absences of the injured Nicolas Wimmer and the yellow-banned Chibuike Nwaiwu. Ervin Omic and Cheick Mamadou Diabaté joined captain Dominik Baumgartner in the back three. Offensively, everything remained the same, in contrast to their blue-and-white opponents. League top scorer Ronivaldo was suspended, with Kristijan Dobras starting in his place.

In front of around 3,300 spectators in the Lavanttal Arena, the match initially developed into a tough affair with few goalscoring opportunities. It was only after half an hour that guest attacker Thomas Goiginger had a promising opportunity, but his finish was too weak. Just a few minutes later, Goiginger played in Anderson from a corner, who headed in powerfully from close range. The in-form WAC hardly came into their own offensively before the break.

WAC presses, Blue & White counter-attack successfully
The Carinthians started the second half with the same personnel but a much stronger team. Angelo Gattermayer (52') and Simon Piesinger (56') made their first dangerous attempts on the Linz goal. After an hour, Kühbauer sent out a clear offensive signal with the substitution of Markus Pink and Alessandro Schöpf. From then on, it was mainly WAC who played, with Blau-Weiß waiting for counter-attacks.

Ballo managed to equalize with the help of guest keeper Radek Vitek, which was by no means undeserved. The Carinthians then pressed for the winning goal, but it came from the other side. Pirkl finished off a Linz counter-attack with ice-cold precision.

The final score:

Wolfsberger AC - FC Blau-Weiß Linz 1:2 (0:1)

Wolfsberg, Lavanttal Arena, 3,334 spectators, referee Barmaksiz.

Goals: 0:1 (36.) Anderson, 1:1 (71.) Ballo, 1:2 (87.) Pirkl

WAC: Polster - Baumgartner, Omic, C. M. Diabate - Jasic, Piesinger (72. Sylla), Agyemang (60. Schöpf), Ullmann - Zukic - Gattermayer (60. Pink), Ballo (88. Sabitzer)

Blue-White: Vitek - Bakatukanda, Maranda, Mitrovic (88. Gölles) - Anderson (70. Strauss), Pasic, Briedl, Pirkl - Mensah, Dobras (57. S. Seidl), Goiginger (70. Wähling)

Yellow cards: C. M. Diabate, Baumgartner, Omic, Jasic, Kühbauer (coach) or Anderson, Mitrovic