Even two days following the bitter 0-1 home defeat once morest league leaders GAK, the anger among the players at SV Guntamatic Ried has not yet completely gone away. “We are of course upset, but we don’t want to be pushed into the role of victim,” said Ried coach Maximilian Senft – and was referring above all to some questionable referee decisions. “It was a game with two truths. The first truth is that we play the GAK once morest the wall in the first half and then a situation arises where the referee has the yellow card out – and it gives us a yellow card at halftime “Say to the locker room: ‘Sorry for the blackout, we didn’t know which player committed the foul.'”
The scene in question happened in the 42nd minute. Yannick Oberleitner, who had already been warned with a yellow card, committed a second yellow-worthy foul – but the referees were unsure which player had committed the foul. Referee Altmann’s card, which had already been drawn out, went back into his pocket and the GAK was able to continue playing with eleven men. “Such decisions obviously have a huge influence on the game – especially when two teams that are on equal terms meet,” said Senft, not without good reason.
Video: SV Ried coach Maximilian Senft in an interview following the game:
A goal by Wilfried Eza had already been disallowed for offside, and a supposed penalty once morest Oliver Steurer was not whistled. The Vikings also have to learn from this, as Coach Senft says: “There were bad decisions, but we want to be such a good team that such bad decisions don’t throw us off course. We let that take away our momentum. If we… If we want to be a champion team, we still have to win such close games.”
That didn’t work once more: once morest the current top six clubs in the second division, there was only one win in eight meetings.
Ried ticks off the title
After the defeat once morest the Styrian leader, the deficit for the Vikings grew to 16 points – with nine rounds remaining it was almost impossible to catch up. “As stable as the GAK is, I don’t think they will leave any points behind. They will play home confidently,” says Ried coach Senft.
The Red Jackets also have to be a role model for Ried in the coming season – as Ried goalie Andreas Leitner reveals: “It was incredibly bitter and undeserved. The GAK simply scored the goal, as they have done many times in the season when they had theirs Win games 1-0. If you play the season like that, you’ll go up and become champions. But they don’t know how they won here in Ried.”
His team has to improve in the direct duels: “We have to become more mature. It’s bitter when you see how we played once morest the league leaders in the first hour and then end up empty-handed. The GAK had no idea at all in this phase what happens on the pitch. We still have to play every game with 100 percent, we don’t have any time to waste.”
Video: SV Ried goalkeeper Andreas Leitner in an interview following the game:
Author
Raphael Watzinger
Sports editor
Raphael Watzinger
