Unthreatened

Red Bull Salzburg vs. Wolfsberg – LIVE copy from 5pm

Jubilation at Wiener Austria

(Bild: GEPA)

Vienna's Austria start the championship group level with champions Sturm Graz. The "Veilchen" won 2:0 (0:0) in the last round before the points split at WSG Tirol and thus remain on the road to success. After a mixed first half, Dominik Fitz gave coach Stephan Helm's side the lead with his ninth goal of the season from a handball penalty (57'). Substitute Andreas Gruber made sure of the decision (81').

Austria go into the race for the European Cup places in second place behind Sturm, four points ahead of Salzburg, five ahead of WAC and six ahead of Rapid. WSG will fight against relegation in the qualifying group.

Austria struggle to get into the game
The omens were clear: Austria arrived with eleven wins from the last 13 rounds, while Wattener were still winless in 2025. The Tyroleans were struggling with late goals conceded in recent games. Jonas David was still missing in defense, while Tobias Anselm played in attack in the absence of Lukas Hinterseer, who was ill. Austria captain Manfred Fischer picked up his fifth yellow card and was suspended, while Reinhold Ranftl and Marvin Potzmann were ill. The 17-year-old Philipp Maybach and Philipp Wiesinger moved into the starting eleven.

Austria found it difficult to get into the game. The opening minutes belonged to the team in tenth place in the table, who attacked early on. After ten minutes, Anselm headed well over the goal from a few meters out - it was to remain the best chance of the first half. After a quarter of an hour, the Viennese were also in the game, but Fitz and Co. mainly created goals from set-pieces.

(Bild: GEPA)

Maybach's shot next to the goal after a corner kick would have been caught by WSG keeper Adam Stejskal, while Wiesinger's shot after another corner was deflected at the last moment. The Austria defender blocked an Anselm shot at the end of the first half. As neither defensive line opened up any space, the statistics at the break reflected what was happening on the pitch: WSG had zero shots on goal compared to zero for Austria.

WSG blunder gives Austria the lead
The visitors came out of the locker room more aggressively and put the Tyroleans under more pressure in the build-up. A slip-up from David Jaunegg finally gave Austria the lead. Stejskal saved his team, but David Gugganig deflected Matteo Perez Vinlöf's subsequent shot with his hand. The VAR intervened and sent off referee Jakob Semler. Fitz shot the ensuing penalty kick humorlessly into the middle of the net.

(Bild: GEPA)

Jaunegg almost made up for his mistake five minutes later, his header from a corner kick narrowly missing the target. WSG tried to equalize, Austria were not always solid. Samuel Sahin-Radlinger saved an Anselm shot after the next corner. But before a hectic finish, Helm's team managed to decide the game. Gruber missed completely free in front of Stejskal, but did everything right in his next action.

WSG Tirol - Austria Vienna 0:2 (0:0)

Innsbruck, Tivoli Stadion Tirol, 2,650 spectators, refereed by Semler

Goals: 0:1 (57') Fitz (hand-held penalty), 0:2 (81') Gruber

WSG: Stejskal - Jaunegg, Lawrence, D. Gugganig - Üstündag (72. Rieder), Taferner, Müller, Naschberger (72. Diarra), Czyborra (82. Ranacher) - Butler, Anselm (82. Skrbo)

Austria: Sahin-Radlinger - Wiesinger, Dragovic, Plavotic (76. Guenouche) - Perez Vinlöf, Barry (76. Raguz), Maybach (59. Handl), Galvao - Fitz - Prelec (88. Aleksa), Malone (59. Gruber)

Yellow cards: Naschberger, Taferner or Fitz, Galvao, Sahin-Radlinger