Three crucial points
Austria battles to a victory against ten-man Hartberg
On Sunday, Wiener Austria scraped out a 1-0 victory against TSV Hartberg in the championship group. Although the Styrians had to play with one man down starting in the 38th minute, they were able to repeatedly put pressure on coach Stephan Helm’s team right up until the final stages.
Austria has closed the gap to league leaders Sturm Graz to just two points in the Bundesliga’s championship group. The “Violets” celebrated a 1-0 away win against TSV Hartberg on Sunday thanks to a goal by Manfred Fischer (45’+1), temporarily moving them into second place. The East Styrians, numerically weakened after Konstantin Schopp’s red card in the 38th minute, remain in sixth and last place following their fourth consecutive game without a win.
Hartberg relied on their tried-and-true defensive strategy from the start, digging in with their five-man backline in their own half and hoping for counterattacks—which Austria, however, nipped in the bud. For their part, the visitors were unable to break through TSV’s defensive wall for a long time. It wasn’t until Schopp’s ejection that the deadlock was finally broken.
The son of former Hartberg coach Markus Schopp, making his first start for Hartberg, went into a tackle with Philipp Wiesinger with his leg outstretched and was initially shown a yellow card by referee Stefan Ebner, before the official reviewed the TV footage, changed his mind, and sent the defender off with a red card.
Debutant Markovic with a spectacular assist for Fischer
Austria now became more forceful. After a cross from Johannes Handl, Lee Tae-seok hit the crossbar (45'), and seconds later Fischer scored the winning goal. Ranftl played the ball into the middle, U17 World Cup runner-up Vasilije Markovic flicked it on with his heel, and the captain finished confidently. Markovic, who replaced the suspended Abubakr Barry in his starting lineup debut, thus delivered an assist in the style of Barry’s from the previous week against Sturm.
In the second half, Austria controlled the game but failed to add to their lead and thus secure a decisive advantage early on. Markovic missed the best chance for a second goal, as his attempt from a good position sailed well over the crossbar (72').
Hartberg sensed a chance to snatch a point in the closing minutes and repeatedly tried their luck with long balls, which at times left Austria looking shaky. However, the Favoriten side also had the only real chance late in the game when a shot by Romeo Mörth was blocked off the line by Damjan Kovacevic (91'). In the end, it remained Austria’s first win over Hartberg after three consecutive losses.
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