Conference League

Victory! Austria Widens the Door to the Playoffs

Sanel Saljic scored the 2–1 goal for Austria(Bild: GEPA)

Austria put itself in a strong position in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the Conference League with an away win at Beitar Jerusalem. In Ploiesti, Romania—where the Israeli runner-up plays its European home games—the “Violets” came back from an early deficit to secure a 2-1 (1-1) victory. 

The six-time Israeli champions took the lead through Noam Muche (19th minute). Austria fought back with a goal by Vasilje Markovic (45th minute)—his first in an Austria jersey—and a goal by “super sub” Sanel Saljic (69th minute) following an improved performance in the second half. In the final match of the group stage, they would face either Sporting Braga or Dinamo Minsk; the favored Portuguese side won the first leg at home 1–0.

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Dragovic’s Comeback with Head Protection
Defensive leader Aleksandar Dragovic was fit to play again after recovering from a concussion, but didn’t come on until the 63rd minute, wearing a stylish head guard. Veteran Reinhold Ranftl also started on the bench. Striker Johannes Eggestein, who was slightly injured, did not travel to Romania. For the Israelis, Shon Weissman—who was still under contract with Blau-Weiß Linz last season—played as the center forward.

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Beitar controlled the match against the young Austria squad—which featured four teenagers—in the early going and had its first big chance in the ninth minute. Weissman, the 2019–20 Bundesliga top scorer for WAC, was denied from close range by Austria goalkeeper Samuel Sahin-Radlinger. On the counterattack, Manfred Fischer sent Julian Hettwer on a perfect run behind the defense; the 23-year-old German rounded the Beitar goalkeeper but shot wide of the far post (10th minute). That would come back to haunt them ten minutes later: Although Weissman was denied by Sahin-Radlinger, Muche tapped the rebound over the line.

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Wayward Passes and the Equalizer
Time and again, the Violets made disastrous misplaced passes. This was the case again in the 38th minute, when a deflected shot by Atzili flew just past the Austria goal. But Austria equalized with their second successful attacking move: U17 World Cup runner-up Markovic took a shot from the edge of the penalty area and placed the ball precisely into the far corner.

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After the break, the ball found the back of the Beitar net again following a shot by Fischer, though Hettwer was narrowly offside in the build-up (50th minute). Helm’s team was clearly playing better after bringing on Ranftl and Florian Wustinger at halftime and had an excellent chance to take the lead through Kelvin Boateng (55'). Shortly thereafter, Hettwer missed miserably from a prime position (61'). Beitar had previously had a good chance through Omer Atzili (58').

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Austria was rewarded
Austria now had the Israelis under control and kept launching incisive attacks—with success. Saljic took the ball perfectly after a counterattack and fired it right into the far corner. Moritz Wels, who had also come on as a substitute, subsequently failed twice (72', 73') to add to the lead when he was alone in front of Miguel Silva. Beitar’s final offensive yielded nothing despite several attempts on goal.

Beitar Jerusalem – FK Austria Vienna 1–2 (1–1)
Ploiesti (ROU), Ilie-Oana Stadium, Referee Visser (BEL). 
Second leg on August 13 (8:30 p.m.) in Vienna.

Goals:
1:0 (19') Muche
1:1 (45') Markovic
1:2 (69') Saljic

Beitar: Miguel Silva – Antwi, Carabali, G. Cohen (57' Gadrani), Y. Cohen – Muche, Takang, Worko (82' Yosefi) – Atzili (65' Kalu), Weissman (57' Muzie), Shua (65' Ansah)

Austria: Sahin-Radlinger – Buhari (46' Ranftl), Handl (63' Dragovic), Feddersen – Nnodim, Markovic, Maybach (46' Wustinger), Schablas – Fischer, Hettwer (63' Saljic) – Boateng (63' Wels)

Yellow cards: Carabali , Takang, Gadrani, Kalu; Maybach, Ranftl, Schablas, Helm (coach)