The Violets slid into a 0-4 (0-2) debacle in the 6th round of Group C away at Hapoel Be’er Sheva and thus ended the group stage as the bottom of the table. Internationally, the Viennese have been waiting for a win for 14 games.
Even before the game, Austria had no chance of advancing to the next round. The international adventure is also over for Be’er Sheva after Lech Poznan’s 3-0 win over Villarreal in the parallel game in Group C.
Hapoel was the dominant team throughout the game and achieved a deserved win at this level. Sagiv Yehezkel and Ramzi Safuri put the hosts on the road to victory with a double strike (29′, 33′) in the first half. Itay Shechter (63′) scored first in the second half of the game, an own goal by Johannes Handl (74′) brought about the final score.
Austria coach Manfred Schmid rotated compared to the Bundesliga success over Altach (2-1) last Sunday. Four new players were in the starting XI. Mirko Kos replaced first-choice goalkeeper Christian Früchtl, and Johannes Handl was allowed to play in central defence. In attack, Schmid relied on Haris Tabakovic, who was strong in the air. Matan Baltaxa made his first-team debut in his native Israel at left-back.
The spectators in the Tuner Stadium saw a lively game with a few chances right from the start. In the seventh minute, Safuri missed the goal for Be’er Sheva, but the angle was too acute for Manuel Polster’s shot. The Israeli hosts got more out of the game, but Austria defended in a disciplined and consistent manner at the beginning.
However, as the game progressed, the hosts got stronger. Reinhold Ranftl unluckily got the ball onto his own post after a corner (19′). Again after a corner, the ball wriggled in the net of goalkeeper Kos for the first time. Yehezkel headed into the right corner of the cross (29′). Just a few moments later, Safuri increased the lead to 2-0 from close range (33′) after a mistake in the build-up game and a poor tackle from Baltaxa.
At the break, coach Schmid made a quadruple change. But this had no effect either. Be’er Sheva created chance after chance and dominated the game at will. Goalkeeper Kos was able to steer a shot from Rotem Hatuel to the post. Substitute Shechter made the final decision after a little more than an hour. The former Salzburg-Schreck converted a Stangl pass from close range (63rd).
It got even more bitter for Austria. Johannes Handl deflected a shot from Dor Micha into his own goal (73′).
Source: Nachrichten
