Match point for relegation in round 29 of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga for the WSG Tyrolwho are at the bottom SC Austria Lustenau needed a point to go into the 6th BL season in a row. The WSG with a broad chest is the most successful team in the qualifying group so far with eleven points (3W, 2D, 1L) but lost in the basic round on February 11th. with 0:2 in Innsbruck against the guests, who were clinging to the last, thin straw. Which now seems to be falling apart after the zero number at the WSG, even if the Heraf team has not theoretically been relegated yet. The WSG, on the other hand, celebrates staying in the league early.
Prelec free, but not free of nerves
So the WSG needed another point. However, there was no “X” in all eight BL duels previously. Also noteworthy, in the last five meetings the away team always won (3x Lustenau, 2x Wattens). The Tyroleans have been undefeated in Innsbruck since the end of February, the Lustenauers have always scored points away from home in the qualifying group. So much for statistics.
Regarding the game… there is initially nothing worth mentioning for a long time. Both of them extend the warm-up phase into the game, eyeing, watching and shadowing each other.
Speaking of shadows… the first moment of light comes from the half-shaded side of the Tivoli… attracting the people of Watten. Wonderful through ball on the left flank from captain Valentino Müller to the returnee Mahamadou Diarra (serving a yellow card suspension), who serves his congenial strike partner Nik Prelec with a brilliant low pass from the outside of his instep. But what is the Tyrolean top scorer with seven goals doing there…?! Free in front of goalkeeper Schierl, the 22-year-old Slovenian aims to the right of the visitors’ goal (29′).
On the other side, Lukas Fridrikas’s first shot was clearly over (34′). Also a Cissé free kick from the “second row”. So in a fair, intense game with few highlights (without a shot on goal!) the score remains 0-0 at halftime.
New momentum thanks to Diaby – Lustenau with more risk
If anything, only a win will help the Heraf team, the guests will have to take more risks in the second half. Also personified by Heraf bringing in Yadaly Diaby for the 27-year-old German “six” Paderson Chato. Diaby immediately serves Ben Bobzien, but the 20-year-old German misses after a courageous individual action from half-left (47th). The Ländle club’s more offensive approach opens up space for the WSG to counterattack. But Prelec misused the ball before substitute Müller missed the goal from 18 meters (50th). What immediately happened to Gmeiner on the other side – passed to the right (51′).
The game becomes more open and continues to thrive on tension. It is an “unwritten law” in this West duel that whoever takes a 1-0 lead will win later. After almost an hour, the first shot on goal by Kennedy Boateng after a free kick ball was blocked, safe prey for goalkeeper Stejskal (59th). Both teams had long since raised their sights, but in the end the settings were still rather suboptimal. After – once again – disorder in the WSG-16 after a free kick from the guests by Gmeiner, Fridrikas deflected a follow-up shot over it (62′).
Next diagonal free kick, next danger – this time Grabher on the advanced central defender Lins, whose header goalkeeper Stejskal turns around the post (65th). The Ländle club stays ahead against the “white Watten wall”, but the ball doesn’t go in. Austria going all-in, the Tyroleans standing deep.
Wild ride on the final stretch of the game – relegation for WSG
And… lurking on the counterattack… suddenly a small series of crosses from the left and right by the advanced wing players Schulz and Sulzbacher, before Diarra, after a Schulz cross from close range, failed with a header due to the reflex of the previously unemployed SC goalkeeper Schierl (79 .). Will the hosts manage a lucky punch again like they did in part 1 of the four-day home double against Austria Vienna (1-0)?
But first the guests again, brilliant shot from the left from Grabher, but the many-legged WSG defense just blocked it (83′). Then substitutes Buksa & Blume carelessly miss a promising counterattack opportunity (84′). What a wild final phase, including four minutes of stoppage time. One last free kick by Surdanovic, but symptomatic of the Lustenau season… the 25-year-old Serb slips away, the ball goes out of the goal (90th + 4).
It remains 0-0. The first draw in the 8th BL duel between both teams. Austria, with a courageous effort but without a happy ending and still only without a win in the qualifying group, is theoretically not yet relegated (note: the fact is that the relegated team will come from Vorarlberg), but with three games left and eight points behind For the penultimate SCR Altach, staying in the league is a “mission impossible”.
No more for WSG Tirol, who remain without conceding a goal for the second time in a row and celebrate staying in the league early thanks to their zero number. In the “Holy Land” the Silberberger farewell year will definitely turn night into day.
ADMIRAL Bundesliga 29th round, championship group 7th round
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 5 p.m., Tivoli Innsbruck, SR: Josef Spurny.
WSG Tirol vs. SC Austria Lustenau 0-0
WSG Tyrol (3-5-2, offensive): Stejskal – Bacher, Okungbowa, D. Gugganig – Sulzbacher, Taferner, V. Müller (K, 66. Naschberger), Ogrinec (59. Blume), Schulz – Prelec (59. Buksa) , Diarra. Trainer: Thomas Silberberger.
SC Austria Lustenau (4-1-4-1): Schierl – Gmeiner, Boateng, Lins (90th + 1 Mätzler), Berger – Chato (46th Diaby) – Bobzien, Tiefenbach (66th Surdanovic), Grabher (K), Fridrikas – Cissé (88th Maak). Trainer: Andreas Heraf.
yellow cards: Taferner (84th, foul play) / Gmeiner (86th, tactical foul play)
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Photocredit: GEPA-ADMIRAL