Lustenau beat WAC and advanced to the play-off final

Vorarlberg won the dramatic Bundesliga play-off semi-final in Wolfsberg at WAC on Monday evening 2-1 (1-1, 0-0) after extra time and now have two more games in front of them. For the Carinthians, on the other hand, the season is over.

Tai Baribo initially put the hosts ahead with a penalty kick (85′), but Darijo Grujcic put Markus Mader’s team into overtime in the last second of regulation time (96′). There, Lustenau had the better end for themselves, Lukas Fridrikas ensured the decision in favor of the guests (105th).

The promoted team has home advantage in the play-off final against the “Veilchen” on Thursday (5:00 p.m.), followed by the second leg in Vienna on Sunday (5:00 p.m.). In the Bundesliga round, Lustenau had won 2-2 away and 1-0 at home against Vienna.

In the sparsely occupied Lavanttal Arena – where Austria-Vienna coach Michael Wimmer also watched the upcoming opponent – both teams were initially concerned with securing themselves. Scenes in the penalty area or even great opportunities therefore remained scarce. The biggest excitement in the first half was a collision between Dominik Baumgartner and Anderson, who unhappily banged their heads in midfield (24′). The WAC defender suffered a severe laceration, but continued to play with a head bandage for the time being.

Merciless efficiency

The course of the game changed little when it started to rain, only one shot – from the WAC – went on goal in the first 45 minutes. Baumgartner had to be replaced during the break, and Augustine Boakye also failed to return from the dressing room. David Gugganig and Thierno Ballo took over.

After a change of sides, Manfred Schmid’s team became overweight and were the harder-working team. Ballo tested guest goalie Domenik Schierl with a low shot, which passed easily (56′). Jonathan Scherzer couldn’t find anyone after dribbling in the penalty area (73′).

Penalty alarm in the guest penalty area finally came in the 82nd minute: After a pass from Baribo, Maurice Malone fell in a duel with Matthias Maak. After checking by the VAR, referee Christopher Jäger pointed to the point. Baribo didn’t miss the opportunity, the goal scorer on duty hit the lead with a powerful shot.

But the Mader-Elf found the right answer in injury time through merciless efficiency. After a corner, Darijo Grujcic headed in to equalize with the last stoppage-time action. That meant 30 minutes of help, in which the WAC was more active again, but the promoted team was more accurate. Torben Rhein found Fridrikas, who had been left criminally alone, and whose shot, deflected by Tim Oermann, was untenable. With that, Wolfsberg, who lost again after eight games without defeat, was knocked out