NEWS
Clear Victory! Superb Eggestein fires Austria into Round 2
Wiener Austria makes no mistake in the first round of the UNIQA ÖFB Cup. Johannes Eggestein shines with a hat-trick.
Wiener Austria confidently advances to the second round of the UNIQA ÖFB Cup.
The Bundesliga club lives up to its role as favorite against regional league club Wiener Sport-Club and celebrates a comfortable 5-0 away victory in the traditional duel.
The man of the evening is Johannes Eggestein, who had a significant share in the Violets' success with three goals and one assist.
For Austria coach Stephan Helm, it's a successful competitive match evening despite rotating seven positions. However, the mood is somewhat dampened by Aleksandar Dragovic's injury-related substitution already in the first half.
Dream Start by Eggestein, Dragovic Forced Off Injured
Austria gets off to a perfect start and takes the lead after just over a minute. Professional debutant Daniel Nnodim plays a strong pass from the right side into the center, where Johannes Eggestein perfectly controls the ball and beats WSC keeper Christoph Haas to make it 1-0 (2'). The 18-year-old right-back thus collects his first competitive match assist for the Violets after only 62 seconds.
Even after that, Austria remains dominant. Philipp Maybach narrowly misses the top corner with a technically demanding outside-of-the-foot curler (14'), before Manfred Fischer fails to beat Haas after a setup by Eggestein (26').
The 24th minute provides a shock moment: After a cleared corner, Aleksandar Dragovic is unluckily hit by Kerim Abazovic in an aerial duel. The central defender remains dazed and has to be substituted due to a laceration. Reinhold Ranftl takes over.
As the game progresses, Wiener Sport-Club also finds its way into the match. Eren Keles and Konstantin Kerschbaumer do get shots away, but it never really becomes dangerous (25').
Shortly before halftime, the underdog is still unlucky: A misplaced cross from Abazovic almost dips into the far corner, but only hits the crossbar (43'). At the other end, Haas prevents a larger deficit with a strong save against a cheeky Eggestein free-kick (45'+1).
Smoke Interruption – Then Austria Seals the Deal
After the restart, pyrotechnics in the Austria fan sector initially cause a brief interruption before the match can be resumed after a few minutes.
Immediately afterwards, the Violets strike again. Eggestein is put through with a pass and selflessly lays it across to Sanel Saljic, who only has to tap it in for 2-0 (50').
The regional league team's resistance is broken at the latest after this. First, Eggestein converts a rebound after Abazovic heads a Saljic cross against his own post (55'). Just three minutes later, the German completes his hat-trick: he is perfectly sent through by Nnodim, superbly lobs the rushing Haas, and makes it 4-0 (58').
Finally, substitute Hasan Deshishku scores the final goal. After a serious misplaced pass from Abazovic, the 18-year-old U17 Vice World Champion runs alone towards Haas and scores his first professional goal for Austria with a well-placed finish (75').
Wiener Austria calmly plays out the final phase and, after the 5-0 victory, takes revenge for the surprising Cup exit against Wiener Sport-Club in the Round of 16 in 2022.
For the Violets, the second leg of the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round against FK Liepaja continues already on Thursday. Wiener Sport-Club starts its new regional league season on Friday with a home match against Favoritner AC.
