The 2:2 against Blau-Weiß Linz on Saturday felt at least a little like a “three-pointer” after a comeback. Ronivaldo (10th) and Kristijan Dobras (40th) had given the efficient Linz team a 2:0 lead at half-time, before new signing Tio Cipot (60th) and Petar Filipovic (73rd) secured GAK’s well-deserved second point of the season.
At GAK, Daniel Maderner returned to the attack after his injury, and Cipot made his debut in the starting eleven. Blau-Weiß again used a back four, with veteran Andreas Lukse replacing Nicolas Schmid, who was about to leave for Southampton, in goal.
With a five-minute delay and after the smoke from various fans’ pots had cleared, a fast-paced game developed, which Thomas Goiginger opened with a good chance. The attacker failed from a tight angle against goalie Jakob Meierhofer, who was beaten a few moments later. Ronivaldo took a sharp cross from Anderson perfectly, turned around his opponent and shot into the far corner.
2-0 at halftime
GAK continued to try, but was unsuccessful in the final third – only the guests were dangerous. Meierhofer parried against Kristijan Dobras (21st) and Goiginger (22nd). Only a blocked attempt by Maderner and his subsequent header just over the goal (23rd) gave the GAK fans a brief moment of hope. But this was quickly extinguished shortly before half-time when Benjamin Rosenberger unfortunately deflected Dobras’ harmless free kick to make it 0-2. He had already been credited with an own goal in the opening 2-3 loss against Salzburg.
The start of the second half saw mainly defensive guests and an active GAK, who – now with a back four instead of a back three – initially failed to create any threatening finishing scenarios. But just an hour later, the time had come: Cipot pushed in from close range after an assist from Maderner and thus started the comeback.
Ten minutes later, the score was perfect after a free kick and Filipovic’s header to make it 2:2, ushering in an exciting final phase. GAK came much closer to scoring another goal, but narrowly missed it, as did Filipovic, who had the best opportunity, with a header (85′). In the finish, it was Lukse who denied GAK the win against Atsushi Zaizen.
