Qualified! Austria turns the game around with a man advantage

Austria Wien is through to the third qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League.

The Violets celebrated a 3-1 home victory in the second leg against Latvian representatives FK Liepaja, progressing with a 5-1 aggregate score after their 2-0 win in the first leg.

Stephan Helm's team got off to a particularly poor start, but shortly after benefited from an early red card against former Austria player Marvin Martins. In the next round, Israeli vice-champions Beitar Jerusalem await, with the match to be played in Romania (all info>>>).

Austria turns the game around after an early shock

The visitors shocked Austria after just four minutes. Philipp Maybach lost the ball in the build-up, and Amar Haidara pounced on an unorthodox save by Samuel Sahin-Radlinger to give Liepaja a 1-0 lead.

However, just four minutes later, the match took a decisive turn. Former Austria player Marvin Martins got caught on the turf while tracking back and brought Kelvin Boateng down as the last man. Referee Zufferli immediately showed a red card (8.).

With a numerical advantage, Austria increasingly took control. Jonas Feddersen rewarded a strong individual effort with the equaliser, as the centre-back left two opponents standing and drilled the ball into the bottom right corner (20.).

The Viennese struck again with clinical precision shortly after. Following a quick counter-attack, Vasilije Markovic was initially denied by Danijel Petkovic, but Boateng converted the rebound to make it 2-1 (29.).

Liepaja remained dangerous despite being a man down and created good chances through Vjaceslavs Isajevs (22.) and again Isajevs after a corner (32.), but Sahin-Radlinger held onto the lead. At the other end, Markovic (39.), Boateng (41.), and Matteo Schablas (45.+3.) all missed excellent opportunities for a third goal before half-time.

Ranftl finally secures qualification

Austria remained dominant after the break. Ibrahim Buhari (57.) and Feddersen (61.) initially missed from set pieces.

The decisive goal finally came in the 66th minute. Substitute captain Manfred Fischer showed great vision and laid it off to Reinhold Ranftl. The right-back had plenty of space and precisely slotted the ball into the far corner for the 3-1 final score.

In the final phase, the Viennese confidently managed their lead and allowed the depleted Latvians no further opportunities.

Austria has now taken another step towards the Conference League group stage after three missed attempts in recent years, and will face Beitar Jerusalem in the third qualifying round.

The first leg will take place on August 6 on neutral ground in Romania, with the second leg held a week later at the Generali Arena.

Already on Sunday, the Violets face their ADMIRAL Bundesliga season opener away at WAC.