2nd Division – 1st Round

5–0! Wacker Innsbruck Celebrates a Triumphant Return

There was great jubilation among the FC Wacker Innsbruck players—they’ve returned to the 2nd League with a win …(Bild: GEPA)

Wacker Innsbruck got off to a spectacular start in the 2nd League! The newly promoted team defeated Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz 5–0 (4–0) on Friday evening in the first round, taking the top spot in the standings. In the day’s highlight match, FAC defeated SKN St. Pölten 1–0 (1–0) at home... 

Blau-Weiß Linz, relegated from the Bundesliga, won 3–0 (1–0) at the Young Violets, while FC Liefering also secured a decisive 4–0 (2–0) victory in Kapfenberg. Admira lost 0-1 (0-1) to Rapid II in the Südstadt, while newly promoted Voitsberg and Amstetten played to a 1-1 (1-0) draw.

Wacker’s Dream Start on Return
Wacker overwhelmed Bregenz with four goals from the 25th minute until halftime. Florian Kopp (25'), Christopher Weinzierl (32'), Mouhamed Sy (37'), and Alexander Joppich (44') scored for the Innsbruck side, which has returned to the second-highest division.

The Black-and-Whites underwent a near-complete overhaul of their roster over the summer. The Vorarlberg side was unable to score a single goal. Phil Kunze (72') headed in the final goal of the match in the second half in front of 4,244 spectators at the Tivoli.

In Vienna-Floridsdorf, the FAC decided the match with an early goal: Lan Piskule scored as early as the 8th minute. St. Pölten had plenty of possession afterward but proved too harmless in the attacking third. Eighteen-year-old Paul Scharner in the FAC goal—the son of former national team player Paul Scharner—performed confidently throughout. In the second half, the home team saw out the result without much trouble.

Ronivaldo and a former Austria player scored for Blau-Weiß
Blau-Weiß also underwent a major overhaul over the summer. Michael Köllner, who had moved down to the 2nd League with the team, saw an old acquaintance score for Vienna-Favoriten. Ronivaldo (29') scored the opening goal just under half an hour into the match. Romeo Vucic, who transferred from Austria to Linz this summer, sealed the victory with a brace (71', 89').

Admira, which had already been eliminated from the ÖFB Cup, also got off to a rocky start in the league. Rapid’s second team celebrated after a goal by Daris Dezic (29th minute), and the team from the south of the city was unable to respond. For Liefering, Ilia Ivanschitz set up the 1-0 goal by Yerwin Sulbaran (21st minute) and then scored the 2-0 goal himself (28th minute). After that, the “Young Bulls” had nothing to worry about.

Voitsberg was on track for a win against Amstetten for a long time. After Fabian Schubert put the Styrians ahead from the penalty spot (36th minute), it took until the 90th minute for Nico Zellhofer to equalize for the Lower Austrians. The opening round wraps up this weekend with matches between Vienna—a top contender for the title—and Sturm Graz II (Saturday), as well as Hertha Wels versus Austria Salzburg (Sunday morning).