Second League

Alar shoots Leoben to victory against Ried, FAC slip up

Deni Alar(Bild: GEPA pictures)

DSV Leoben have slipped into the role of first pursuer of leaders GAK in the 2nd Football League. Goalgetter Deni Alar (67') fired the Styrians to a 1-0 (0-0) win over SV Ried in front of a home crowd on Friday evening in the 19th round clash, and the Styrians reduced the gap to the Red Jackets to eight points, at least until Sunday, thanks to their sixth win in a row. GAK will then face the amateurs of Sturm Graz from 10.30 am.

Leoben and Ried put in a tactically disciplined performance in the first half at the Monte Schlacko Arena without creating many chances to score. The visitors came out of the half clearly the better side, but conceded the decisive goal after a Leoben counter-attack. Ried's final offensive went unrewarded, with Mark Grosse hitting the bar in stoppage time. Alar scored for the 14th time this season and leads the scoring charts ahead of St. Pölten's Dario Tadic (13). Four points behind Leoben (36 points), Ried (32) are still fourth after their third defeat in the last four games.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

FAC (33), on the other hand, failed to stay level with Leoben with a 1-2 (1-1) draw at SC Lafnitz. Lafnitz celebrated their second win in a row thanks to Andre Leipold's brace (6th, 76th), and after Benjamin Nyarko (55th) was shown a yellow card, they were outnumbered for almost 40 minutes. FAC scored through Armand Smrcka (33') and lost for the first time after four wins and a draw in their last five games.

Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz (31) had to settle for a 1-1 draw against FC Liefering, despite a goal from Bullen loanee Federico Crescenti (75'), as Luka Reischl (85') also scored in the final minute. Bregenz are still two points behind FAC, pushed into fifth place by St. Pölten (32). SKN celebrated an unchallenged 2-0 win against the harmless Kapfenberg side thanks to Dario Tadic (66) and Johannes Tartarotti (87).

Vienna were inefficient against SV Horn on the Hohe Warte, but the visitors excelled in precisely this respect. Amir Abdijanovic (40') and Kilian Bauernfeind (45.+1) put the game beyond doubt shortly before the break and ensured that the Lower Austrians overtook the eighth-placed team on points. David Peham's final goal (91') came too late for Vienna, who have now lost four games in a row.

Bottom side Amstetten won 2-0 (1-0) with goals from Angelo Gattermayer (23') and Marcel Monsberger (51') at Stripfinger, who are in free fall (5th defeat in a row, goal difference 0:17). Thanks to their second win of the season and second in their last three games, the Lower Austrians drew level with FC Dornbirn, at least until Saturday.