In the penalty shootout

WAC Goes into Overtime! Wins for Salzburg & Hartberg

WAC coach Thomas Silberberger can’t be satisfied with his team’s performance against Regionalliga side Parndorf, despite the narrow victory.(Bild: Krone-Collage/GEPA, Tobi Frank)

Huge relief for WAC in the second round of the ÖFB Cup! It wasn’t until the penalty shootout that the Carinthians managed to edge out Regionalliga side Parndorf 5–4. Meanwhile, Red Bull Salzburg defeated St. Pölten 3–0, Hartberg beat Steyr 4–0, and GAK defeated Kitzbühel 2–0.

The underdog had initially scored a celebrated 1-1 equalizer against the Bundesliga side in stoppage time, forcing the game into extra time. There, WAC—playing a man down after Otar Mamageishvili received a yellow-red card—initially regained the lead. But the underdog fought back again and tied the score at 2–2. In the penalty shootout, however, they were unable to capitalize on their efforts. 

For the first time since 2003, all Bundesliga teams have advanced to the round of 16. The twelve first-division teams are joined by four second-division teams.

Title co-favorite Salzburg put in a solid, if uninspiring, performance in a 3–0 (2–0) win in St. Pölten. Hartberg celebrated the day’s biggest victory with a 4–0 (4–0) win at Vorwärts Steyr. GAK prevailed 2-0 (1-0) in Kitzbühel. However, the day’s most thrilling cup match took place in Burgenland, where the local Regionalliga team pushed an error-prone Bundesliga side to the limit and came back from behind twice.

A tough day at work for WAC
Things didn’t go well forthe2025 Cup champions from the start, and to make matters worse, defensive leader Nicolas Wimmer suffered what appeared to be a serious injury to his right knee. Since striker Giacomo Vrioni was also unable to continue, WAC coach Thomas Silberberger had already used up all his substitutions after just over an hour. Nevertheless, the Bundesliga club seemed to have sealed the deal in regulation time when Markus Pink headed in a free-kick cross from Dominik Fitz (79').

However, the fourth-place team in the Regionalliga Ost didn’t give up, and Dominik Schmidt headed the ball in to send the Burgenland side—not undeservedly—into extra time (91'). In extra time, WAC player Otar Mamageishvili was promptly sent off with a second yellow card (92'). Although Luca Hassler put a WAC team that was already on the ropes back in the lead (96'), Parndorf dominated play almost entirely from that point on. Fabian Ziniel headed in the equalizer to make it 2–2 (107'). In the penalty shootout, four of the first five shooters scored before Schmidt, of all people, was stopped by WAC goalkeeper Lior Glicklich.

Tabakovic puts Salzburg ahead after a lucky shot off the crossbar
Salzburg’s rotated lineup—featuring seven new starters compared to the 5-1 win over Rapid—did what was expected against St. Pölten, who had gotten off to a weak start in the 2nd League. Danny Röhl’s team did need a bit of luck early on when Leomend Krasniqi hit the crossbar. But almost immediately afterward, Haris Tabakovic was on hand. The center forward scored his ninth goal in his ninth appearance for Salzburg (23rd minute).

A comfortable victory for Salzburg.(Bild: GEPA)

SKN put up a fight within their means, but Salzburg’s superior quality showed in their finishing. A misplaced header by Niklas Szerencsis turned into a through ball for Aboubacar Camara, who shook off his opponent in a footrace and made it 2–0 (33'). The decisive goal also came after a missed SKN chance: Christian Früchtl made a save against Luis Hartwig, while at the other end, Bartosz Mazurek capitalized on a rebound to seal the 3–0 final score (50th minute).

Hartberg in Control
GAK took the lead in Kitzbühel as early as the 3rd minute through Alexander Hofleitner, but then failed to add to their lead. Yannick Oberleitner didn’t make it 2–0 for the Tyrolean third-division side until the 77th minute. Hartberg, on the other hand, was never in any danger in Steyr. With back-to-back goals by Tobias Kainz (15th minute) and Angelo Gattermayer (18th minute), the Styrians set the stage for victory. Marco Hoffmann, with his fourth goal of the season across all competitions (30th minute), and Magnus Dalpiaz (41st minute) sealed the deal before halftime.