Fridrikas put the Lustenau team ahead in the 17th minute in front of 4,325 spectators in the sold-out Reichshofstadion. But the Viennese hit back almost immediately after the restart by Fischer (46th) and thus caused the stalemate in the fight for the last free ticket for the European Cup. The winner of the duel is part of the Europa Conference League qualifier.
With the draw in the Ländle, Austria from Vienna could not win the third duel of the season with their Lustenau counterpart, but thanks to the home crowd they can expect a little advantage in the second leg on Sunday. There is also the freshness factor, because the Vorarlbergers are playing their fourth game in ten days on Sunday. After the last round of the league, Lustenau made it through to the play-off semi-finals against Wolfsberger AC and only secured the ticket for the duels with Wiener Violetten there with a 2-1 victory in extra time.
First leg ends in a draw
The first leg in the play-off final of the Admiral Bundesliga for the last place in the European Cup did not result in a winner on Thursday. The Austrias from Lustenau and Vienna parted with 1:1 (1:0).
Lustenau with a better start
After the exhausting 120 minutes in Wolfsberg, Lustenau’s coach Markus Mader chose a line-up that was primarily intended to ensure defensive stability. Lustenau ran in with a five-man chain in defence. Up front, Yadaly Diaby was supposed to support the in-form Fridrikas. The plan is to keep the chance open for a real final in Vienna. The cause of Hakim Guenouche was not a big issue with the Vorarlbergers. The Frenchman is absent from the end of the season for disciplinary reasons after apparently signing a contract with Austria.
For their part, the Viennese wanted to put the disappointment of missing fourth place in the master group behind them. The game designer was absent with Dominik Fitz, who was ill. Andreas Gruber, like captain Lukas Mühl, was there from the start for Johannes Handl, who was also ill. In bright sunshine, the guests attacked early from the start, but were unable to create a dangerous scene. After 15 minutes, Lustenau scored the opening goal from the first successful offensive action.
Diaby moved into the penalty area, leaving Matteo Meisl standing and finding Fridrikas, who shot in goalscoring style. Vorarlberg’s match plan worked. Matthias Maak and Co. had the many high balls from Austria to Tabakovic under control. The ex-Lustenauer still had the best chance of equalizing: Manuel Polster got through once on the left, but Tabakovic couldn’t get the ball across the goal (21′). The green and white Austria also had a great opportunity in the first half hour. This time Diaby let Mühl stand, Austria goalkeeper Christian Früchtl saved for the men in front (29th).
Austria thunderstorm bears fruit
Meteorologically, a storm was brewing during the break. In the Austria dressing room, after a weak performance, there was probably also bad air. The violets came back charged. A shot by Matthias Braunöder was blocked, that by Fischer found its way into the net less than a minute after the restart (46′) after a decisive deflection from Jean Hugonet. Wimmer saw his team come up, after an hour he brought in Nikola Dovedan and Aleksandar Jukic – for Gruber and Braunöder – fresh forces for the offensive.
Lustenau seemed to feel the strain, so Diaby, who had suffered a knee injury, had to leave the field. The Vorarlbergers stayed in the game with a lot of fighting spirit. The game then increasingly flattened out, with both teams often chasing bad passes. Lustenau was once unable to benefit from a blunder by Austria, and Polster shot into the side netting at the other end. The last chance belonged to Lustenau again, but substitute Nemanja Motika failed with a shot at Früchtl (86′).
Comments on the game:
Markus Mader (Lustenau coach): “The plan worked perfectly. It was a great performance by my team, I can only praise it. We deservedly took the lead and could have added another goal. That would have been a giant step. In the second half you saw the quality of Austria. It was clear that the forces would then dwindle. But it remained exciting until the end, I didn’t see many chances for the opponent. Everything is still open, we still have the chance to realize our dream.”
Michael Wimmer (Austria-Trainer): “The performance in the first half wasn’t what we wanted. We wanted to do more, you couldn’t see who played the 120 minutes on Monday. Lustenau was deservedly ahead. The performance in the second half was positive, we kept Lustenau busy. Nevertheless, it must not happen that we run into a counterattack in the last five minutes. In the home game we want to do things better with the fans behind us. I think the starting position is 50:50.”
Admiral Bundesliga, play-off final, first leg
Thursday:
Austria Lustenau – Austria Vienna 1: 1 (1: 0)
Lustenau, Reichshofstadion, 4.325, SR Altmann
Tore:
1:0 Fridrikas (17.)
1:1 Fischer (46.)
Austria Lustenau: Schierl – Gmeiner (67 Anderson), Maak, Hugonet, Grujcic, Berger – Grabher, Surdanovic (78 Motika), Tiefenbach (89 Türkmen) – Fridrikas (89 Schmid), Diaby (67 Rhein)
Austria Vienna: Früchtl – Mühl, Martins, Meisl – Ranftl, Braunöder (60th Jukic), Holland, Polster (89th Baltaxa) – Gruber (60th Dovedan), Fischer – Tabakovic
Yellow cards: Surdanovic, Grabher, Berger, Tiefenbach and Braunöder, Martins, Gruber, Fischer, Holland
The best: Hugonet, Fridrikas, Surdanovic or Ranftl, Früchtl, Polster
Second leg on June 11 in Vienna, kick-off 5 p.m