0:2 at Hammarby

Opening defeat for St. Pölten in Champions League

St. Pölten were beaten 2-0 in Stockholm.(Bild: GEPA)

SKN St. Pölten's start in the Champions League was a failure. The Austrian champions conceded a deserved 2-0 defeat at Swedish title holders Hammarby IF in Stockholm on Wednesday evening. It was the first defeat of the season for coach Liese Brancao's team. 

Next Wednesday (18:45), the Wolves will play Manchester City at home, albeit at the Generali-Arena in Vienna.

Goal from 19 meters
The Lower Austrians did not get off to a good start in front of 7,500 fans in Stockholm. SKN goalkeeper Carina Schlüter first had to receive treatment on her head after a collision with Stina Lennartsson (13'), after which the Swedes turned up the heat. Vilde Hasund hit the crossbar with a header (17'), and a minute later the Norwegian did better, netting from 19 meters to give the hosts the lead. It was Hammarby's first ever goal in the top flight.

St. Pölten did not get into the match after that either. At the start of the second half, the visitors revealed huge gaps in their defense. Ellen Wangerheim failed to beat Schlüter twice from the best of positions (46th/49th). It was only after the hour mark that the Bundesliga leaders began to exert more pressure. Melike Pekel narrowly missed an equalizer from close range (64') and a shot from Mateja Zver was just blocked by Hammarby captain Alice Carlsson (73').

A short time later, Schlüter and substitute Tea Krznaric combined to prevent Smilla Vallotto from doing any worse, with Krznaric scraping the ball off the goal line (77'). However, Cathinka Tandberg sealed the deal shortly before the end of normal time. After a great pass from Asato Miyagawa, the substitute striker had no trouble increasing the lead to 2:0. Tandberg missed the chance to make it 3-0 in stoppage time, but Hammarby's first win in the Champions League remained unchallenged.

Skyblues visit Vienna
In a week's time, St. Pölten will host City at the Generali-Arena in Vienna. The English side celebrated a successful start in the top flight against Barcelona's star team with goals from Naomi Layzell (36') and Khadija Shaw (77'). The Catalans will be Brancao's opponents in Spain on November 12.