3:0 – only the blue and white fans were not champions

FC Blau-Weiss Linz put on a masterly performance in the 3-0 win in the second division’s top game against GAK – and increased the pressure on their promotion rival St. Pölten Lower Austrians (guests in Dornbirn on Saturday).

On the other hand, some of the Linz fans who traveled with us did not present themselves in a first-class manner. “Are you stupid?” Blue and white coach Gerald Scheiblehner called after half an hour in the direction of the away block. Some incorrigibles attracted attention with their late arrival – numerous buses of the blue and white fans were stuck in traffic on the way to the Styrian capital – by throwing firecrackers. Referee Arens Talic interrupted for ten minutes – the game was on the verge of being abandoned. Not particularly intelligent: At this point, the Scheiblehner team was already 2-0 up.

Neo-sports director Christoph Schösswendter, who replaced the injured Lukas Tursch in the starting XI, put the guests on the road to victory in the 12th minute: GAK kicker Marco Perchtold had pulled the advanced BW defense chief to the ground after a throw-in, referee Talic awarded penalties. Captain Michael Brandner scored to make it 1-0. Goalscorer Ronivaldo went even further before the break: First he scored with a half-volley (27th) from 18 meters, just before the break whistle (45th) he used a mistake by the home defense to make it 3-0. “We played a great game,” said Ronivaldo happily. Lead scorer Michael Brandner was also proud: “We did everything we set out to do very well. We can be proud of this achievement.”

Only two relegations

There is a glimmer of hope forVorwarts Steyr in the fight for relegation: before the home game on Sunday against Liefering (10.30 a.m.), third division club Stripfing was also denied admission to the second division in the second instance. Since no club from the Regionalliga Ost apart from the Lower Austrian leader has expressed an interest in moving up, there are no promoted teams in this league – which means that only two clubs from the 2nd division have to be relegated.