Bundesliga

SCR Altach vs WAC – LIVE from 5pm

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Altach have shaken off their initial worries. In the third round of the Bundesliga, the Vorarlberg side celebrated their second win in a row on Sunday with a 2:0 (1:0) victory over WAC and worked their way up to fourth place in the table. 

Man of the match was once again Gustavo Santos with a brace (24', 51'). The Brazilian also scored in his third league game in a row and now has five goals to his name.

Altach coach Joachim Standfest, already a little down in the dumps after the cup exit and the opening defeat against WSG Tirol, is back in the saddle after the club's best start in the league for six years, while WAC are on the decline. Coach Dietmar Kühbauer's brilliant 4:1 comeback has now been followed by two defeats. The Carinthians are eighth in the table.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Altach sent their winning team from the 2-1 win at LASK onto the pitch, while Kühbauer made five changes at WAC. Among others, Cheick Diabate replaced the suspended defender Nicolas Wimmer, while in goal Nikolas Polster, who Kühbauer described as "equal", deputized for Lukas Gütlbauer in his first ever Bundesliga appearance. And ex-Rapidler Maximilian Ullmann, who was brought in from Venezia, made his WAC debut on the left side of defense.

Initially, the fans were treated to a feeling-out process with a slight advantage for WAC and no real chances. But then Altach came out and pushed for the lead. First Oliver Strunz failed to beat Polster (20'), two minutes later the 22-year-old shot-stopper shone again, throwing himself in the way of Vesel Demaku's lucky shot (22'). Two minutes later, however, it was all over again: Santos headed Sandro Ingolitsch's pass into the net from a few meters out.

The visitors struggled in vain in the heavy rain against the secure Altach defense and did not manage a single shot on goal before the break. Things didn't get any better after the break, on the contrary. A completely unsuccessful throw-in initiated an Altach attack, then Diabate served the ball to his opponent, Santos got hold of the ball again and made it 2:0.

The "Wolves" then became at least a little more dangerous. The "barrier" was broken once, but Dejan Zukic only hit the outside of the net (62'). However, the WAC were unable to make any real impact in the final stages after fresh attacking talents Thomas Sabitzer and Angelo Gattermayer came on. Altach kept a clean sheet for the first time this season and secured their first home win since December 5 last year.

SRC Altach - Wolfsberger AC 2:0 (1:0)
Altach, Cashpoint Arena, refereed by Semler.

Goals: 
1:0 (24.) Santos

2:0 (51.) Santos

Altach: Stojanovic - Estrada, Gugganig, Koller - Ingolitsch, Bähre (56. Jäger), Demaku (85. Milojevic), Ouedraogo - Strunz (70. Bahloul), Santos (85. Fridrikas), Fadinger (70. Kronberger)

WAC: Polster - Matic (57. Altunashvili), Baumgartner, Diabate, Ullmann - Jasic, Piesinger - Atanga (73. Gattermayer), Zukic, Ballo - Kojzek (73. Sabitzer)

Yellow cards: Bähre, Ingolitsch, Estrada or Atanga, Ballo