Rasmus Højlund (4′, 32′) and Manprit Sarkaria (45′, 62′) each scored twice for Sturm, while David Affengruber (16′) and Luca Kronberger (90′) also scored. For Röthis it was the biggest match in club history, it was made into a folk festival. Højlund’s quick deficit didn’t bother him much either, the young Dane also appeared as an assistant. The hosts defended themselves vigorously within the range of their possibilities and didn’t cut a bad figure.
“It was a confident performance, but compliments to our opponents,” summed up Sturm coach Christian Ilzer. “We were very effective in the first half. That allowed us to switch. The opponent made it difficult for us to score more goals.” Captain Stefan Hierländer was satisfied: “It was the tough game that I expected. We put in an appealingly good performance. The Vorarlbergers kept the pace up for 90 minutes.”
On the Austria side, Manfred Fischer (10th, 25th/penalty, 56th, 74th) and Aleksandar Jukić (11th, 51st, 55th/penalty) fought a private duel over who can leave the field as the most successful goalscorer. Austria took the lead following a header from Fischer following a Gruber cross, where Wels goalkeeper Rene Engel misjudged – and then it happened in quick succession. Especially in the second half, the match got the character of a training game. “We wanted to see from the start that we might take control of the game relatively early,” said Fischer. However, the goal revealed by the Styrian to win in double digits was not achieved.
Meanwhile, Miroslav Klose celebrated a successful coaching debut in professional football with SCR Altach. The Vorarlbergers won 3-1 at the eastern division club TWL Elektra, veteran Atdhe Nuhiu quickly made things clear with a brace (5th, 19th). After Ognjen Sipka’s goal in the meantime (40′), Salzburg loanee Amankwah Forson (74′) made the decision. LASK beat SC Schwaz 9-1 following Christian Auer put the outsider ahead following a minute. But Marin Ljubicic (44th, 54th, 56th) with a hat-trick, Thomas Goiginger (65th, 77th), Keito Nakamura (17th), Filip Stojkovic (24th), Branko Jovicic (80th) and Alexander Schmidt ( 90.) ensured a Linz victory.
Ried, last season’s cup finalist, won 4-0 at FC Stadlau in Vienna, Christoph Monschein scored twice. However, the opponent had to act outnumbered for almost 80 minutes following a red card. Austria Lustenau were 1-0 down once morest FC Marchfeld Donauauen following a goal by Marc Ortner in the 12th minute, before Pius Grabher equalized for the Bundesliga promoted team in the 47th minute. Stefano Surdanovic (53rd) and Anthony Schmid (65th) paved the way to a 3-2 victory. On Friday, the Bundesliga clubs Salzburg (title holders), Rapid, Austria Klagenfurt, Hartberg and WSG Tirol had already progressed.
Blau-Weiß Linz, one of the promotion favorites in the 2nd division, warmed up for the new season with a 10-1 (4-0) thrashing of VfB Hohenems. Second division promoted Vienna had to put up with a bitter first round defeat at the east division side ASV Siegendorf with a 3: 4 on penalties. Before that, the Viennese had conceded the 2:2 equalizer through Armin Pester in the 121st minute. Next Friday there will be a direct duel between Vienna and Linz at the start of the second division.
