Crisis overcome? Admira finds its rhythm in the LigaZwa season

Despite less possession, Admira secured a victory against ambitious Wels. Better finishing decided the game for the Lower Austrians.

Thanks to their 3-1 success in the IMMOunited top match of Round 5, the Lower Austrians overtake the Upper Austrians in the ADMIRAL 2. Liga standings. Efficient Admira overcomes Hertha Wels >>>

Admira gets off to a dream start

After the first few minutes of the match, one would not have guessed that Admira would leave the pitch victorious.

The hosts already had a great chance to take the lead in the third minute, but Steinbauer prevented an early deficit with a strong save against Kregar. Mankan had previously played the ball perfectly into the penalty area.

Admira primarily sought to score through counter-attacking situations and longer balls into the final third, which quickly proved successful. The Wels defense was momentarily inattentive and was caught off guard by the quicker-thinking Nyarko.

Wels was still in shock when the second goal fell. Ajanovic tried to round goalkeeper Schröcker, but the Wels keeper brought the Admira player down. Gemicibasi converted the resulting penalty to make it 2-0.

Despite being behind, Wels played a respectable game. The Upper Austrians were superior in possession and were able to create some half-chances.

The defense appears solid

In the second half, Wels continued to try and build pressure. Admira Wacker maintained their tactic of waiting for transition moments. As soon as it became dangerous, goalkeeper Steinbauer was there.

Glitia's debut goal to make it temporarily 3-0 was thought to be the decisive moment. However, Wels capitalized on one of the few uncoordinated moments in Admira's defense.

A quickly taken free-kick surprised the backline. All Wels players had all the time in the world to control the ball and eventually convert through Malinowski.

Possession doesn't score goals

Wels could not be accused of not doing enough for the game. For most of the match, the ball circulated through their own ranks as they sought to find an opening.

After the match, coach Heinle also expressed satisfaction with his team: "One must say that I am very satisfied with the team's performance."

The hard training is paying off: "The team implemented everything we set out to do. It's a shame that we conceded the 0-1 due to a blackout in the first situation."

However, having scored only one goal from 20 shots indicates problems with converting chances.

Wels unhappy with referee

That this course of the game is frustrating for the Wels eleven is understandable. After a contentious situation in Admira's penalty area, where a penalty call was not made, emotions boiled over.

Coach Heinle received a red card and had to watch the remainder of his team's attacking efforts from the stands. After the final whistle, tempers were still flared: "Not just today, but it was again the case that this referee is not well-disposed towards us."

"Not only how he officiates, but also how he deals with players and staff, is absolutely unprofessional. I don't know why I received a red card. I don't want to make excuses, but for us, the referee's performance was unacceptable," Heinle fumed against referee Jäger.

Admira finds its footing

After a difficult start to the season with defeats in the Cup against Leithaprodersdorf and in the league against Rapid II and Amstetten, Admira seems to slowly be finding its stride.

Today's game felt like a redemption for coach Suchard, as he revealed in an ORF interview: "I see today's three points as a reward, especially for the past weeks."

He is aware that this victory was not entirely convincing: "Based on today's game, I find it very hard to accept these three points; we were definitely not the better team."

Suchard sees a lot of potential for improvement, especially with regard to the performance in the second half: "We were only reacting and no longer acting. Normally, such things are punished."

On the next match day, the duel against Kapfenberger SV awaits, who surprisingly inflicted the first defeat of the season on Bundesliga relegated side Blau-Weiß Linz.