Image: ERWIN SCHERIAU (APA)
In Pacult’s 250th appearance as Bundesliga coach, the Carinthians won 3-0 (1-0) at TSV Hartberg on Sunday. Austria, still undefeated after five rounds, moved past Rapid with nine points in third place, Hartberger, who came eighth, have only been able to celebrate a win against Rapid so far.
Andrew Irving (44th) with his third goal of the season and Sinan Karweina (62nd, 94th), who scored four goals, shot the effective Klagenfurt team to their second win of the season. The Pacult-Elf was able to claim a bone-dry away game and also won the fifth Bundesliga duel with Hartberg. For the East Styrians, the “Austria curse” continued in a match with a fruitless dominance of ball possession. None of the last 16 games against the Austrias of the league from Klagenfurt, Lustenau and Vienna have been won. There was no victory in the third home game of the season either.
The hosts dominated the first half hour, but showed what shouldn’t change in the whole game: Markus Schopp’s team didn’t know how to create top chances. Klagenfurt acted rigorously in their own penalty area at the latest – and were better in the game after the first drinking break. Kosmas Gkezos headed well over Raphael Sallinger’s goal from a corner kick (36′), who quickly cut off Jonas Arweiler’s angle on the counterattack (41′). In the 44th minute, however, Hartberg’s goalkeeper had no chance when Irving made a precise shot from 15 meters out. The previously invisible Scot used the space for his third goal of the season.
The first chance after the change of sides also belonged to the guests. Sallinger made a save when Nicolas Wimmer headed in after a Gkezos cross (47′). The TSV could not be denied the offensive effort. Only the footballing weapons to lever out the stable Carinthian block remained dull. Situations like in the 51st minute, when a dangerous shot by Dominik Prokop was blocked by Thorsten Mahrer (51st), were a rarity.
Instead, Klagenfurt made a decisive increase in the 62nd minute: Arweiler staged his strike partner Karweina, who meandered through Hartberg’s back and rolled the ball into the left corner (63′). Four Hartbergers watched the dribble almost inactively.
With the 0:2, Schopp and Pacult swapped for the first time. There was only one new face in the starting eleven of both teams compared to the previous week: Dominik Frieser should not really be able to replace the ailing Ruben Providence on the right wing. A possible second Hartberger air didn’t come about because the striker Maximilian Entrup, who was mostly hanging in the air, only hit the side netting from a good position (82nd). Practically with the final whistle, Karweina increased the counterattack to 3:0 (94th).
Source: Nachrichten
