On Wednesday, the Upper Austrians defeated their Bundesliga competitor Hartberg 2-1 (0-0) in front of their home crowd in the semifinals and are thus in the final for the fourth time. The goals were scored by Felix Seiwald (61st) and Julian Wießmeier (71st), for Hartberg the goal from Philipp Sturm (76th) came too late.
The Rieder also expanded their home series and have already been unbeaten in their stadium for 17 competitive games in a row. The opponent of the Innviertler in the final (May 1st in Klagenfurt) will only be determined on March 16th between the WAC and defending champion Salzburg.
It was a chaotic first half, characterized by many bad passes in front of 3,700 spectators in the Rieder Stadium, so there were very few chances to score. Hartberger’s two best opportunities resulted from defensive mistakes by the home side, which were cleared twice reed-Goalie Samuel Sahin-Radlinger outside the penalty area but successful (5th and 20th). In the 8th minute it was Okan Aydin, whose shot from a good position went just wide of the goal.
Rieder hardly put themselves in a dangerous position on offense and only got stronger towards the end of the first 45 minutes. The only real opportunity to score in this phase was Dorgeles Nene, who was on loan from Salzburg. After Hartberg goalie Rene Swete, who was running out, missed a long ball, Michael Steinwender jumped in to save Nene’s goal in front of the line (33′).
It was also the fast Nene who, soon after the restart, missed a cross by only centimeters after a counterattack in the five (49th). reed set the tone, interrupted by a solo by Donis Avdijaj, who curled the ball wide of the goal (58′). Three minutes later, however, the time had come: Seiwald was passed on the right flank, left Thomas Rotter in the penalty area and took the shot – the approaching Christian Klem deflected the ball into the near corner for Swete.
Around ten minutes later, Tobias Kainz became unlucky. He fouled Stefan Nutz, who had been passed to Nene in the penalty area, Wießmeier didn’t give Swete a chance from the penalty spot. It was the preliminary decision in favor of the “Vikings”, who were stronger in the second half, and who also gained self-confidence for the fight for the championship group: In the last round of the regular season on Sunday, the table seventh, equal on points with the sixth-placed Rapidler, receives Sturm Graz.
Source: Nachrichten
