The Vorarlberg team beat Hartberg 4-1 (2-1) despite an early deficit. Dario Tadic (8th) initially advanced the dominant East Styrians with a foul penalty. A double strike by Bryan Teixeira (41st) and Anderson (44th) before the break turned things around. Lukas Fridrikas (67th) and Michael Cheukoua (91st) kept the Lustenau team celebrating.
Lustenau. After four rounds, Markus Mader’s team has seven points and is fourth in the top half of the table. Hartberg only got one point after the opening win over Altach. The Styrians are currently in tenth place.
In front of around 3,700 spectators, it didn’t look like the Lustenauers would win at home. The league newcomer – with Torben Rhein new in midfield – started badly in the game. Hartberg got the first corner kick after just a few seconds, Tadic’s header wrested Domenik Schierl from a flight.
The guests, who had changed three positions after the 2-0 defeat against Salzburg, then stayed on the trigger. Jürgen Heil dug into the penalty area, Lustenau’s Jean Hugonet hit the Styrian’s ankle while trying to clear. Referee Manuel Schüttelgruber went to the screen after VAR intervention and awarded the penalty. Tadic scored sharply over Schierl’s fingertips.
In the first quarter of an hour, coach Klaus Schmidt’s team could have done better, but Heil shot too centrally to Schierl (12′). The game then splashed along with advantages for the Hartbergers. The promoted team didn’t arrive at all for 40 minutes on the offensive. The first two shots on goal then sat, with the Hartberger helping a lot.
First, Teixeira escaped opponent Patrick Farkas after a hole pass from Stefano Surdanovic and duped TSV goalie Rene Swete with a shot into the near corner. Then France’s Teixeira went untapped on the goal-line and found Anderson, who had no trouble with a header from close range. In a turbulent phase before the change of sides, Hartberg even had the chance to equalize, but attacker Mario Kröpfl missed a clear volley from twelve meters.
In the five minutes after the break it could have been 3:1 or 2:2. At first Anderson fired too centrally at Swete, then the ball was already in Lustenau’s goal after a corner kick: In the scramble in front of it, however, Schüttengruber saw a foul play by the alleged goalscorer Albert Ejupi on Surdanovic.
After an hour, the game got heated. Hartberg had to take more risks and ran into the decisive counterattack. Anderson left opponent Kofler on the right, and Fridrikas, who had just come on as a substitute, converted the Brazilian’s cross. Hartberg then tried vehemently to force the goal. However, Seth Paintsil missed the possible 2:3 in the 90th minute. A minute later Cheukoua got the final score.
Source: Nachrichten
