Vienna’s Austria suffered its cup Waterloo against third division team ASK Voitsberg. In a turbulent first-round match with three lead changes, the third division team from Styria sensationally prevailed 3-2.
Third division club ASK Voitsberg caused a sensation in the first round of the ÖFB Cup on Sunday. The West Styrian second division relegation team deservedly eliminated Bundesliga club FK Austria Vienna 3-2 in front of their home crowd. The favorites from the capital initially managed to turn a 0-1 deficit around with goals from Botic and Malone, but the underdogs coached by Preiss ultimately won with a double strike from Zivanovic and Krienzer.
Voitsberg proved to be a difficult opponent from the start and repeatedly threatened to score. Jager failed to beat Austria goalkeeper Kos after a quick counterattack (22′), but captain Pfingstner did better from the resulting corner, scoring from close range to give his side the lead (23′). The visitors were unable to create much from open play, and Austria coach Helm reacted by bringing on Barry for Schablas after just over half an hour.
The Violets were particularly dangerous from set pieces. Plavotic (30th minute) and Fischer (41st and 44th minutes) all missed chances to equalize from corner kicks. Botic did better in stoppage time, heading in a Fitz corner to score his first competitive goal for Austria (45+1). The Bundesliga side continued to struggle after the break, but took the lead through a cool finish from Malone on the counterattack (57′).
Decisive double strike after an hour
Austria’s new signing Eggestein came on shortly afterwards for the goalscorer and made his debut in purple. The German immediately missed a corner and watched as his opponent Zivanovic poked the ball into the net to make it 2-2 (63′). But that wasn’t all: after a fine attack, Krienzer put the underdogs back in front (65′). The Viennese were unable to respond, with Barry unlucky to hit the post (77′).
The Austrians are thus the second Bundesliga team after GAK to bow out of the cup at the start of the season.
