Opening defeat against the series champions
At the start of the season, Vienna faced a challenging task when they met the serial champions SKN St. Pölten in the early third round of the ADMIRAL Women’s Bundesliga. Despite a committed start, the Viennese team found themselves trailing by a sobering 0:4 at halftime. In the end, they lost their opening game 0:6.
In the first competitive match of the season, head coach Mark Dobrounig relied on the new signings Gebert, Rukovina and Fankhauser, who were all in the starting eleven. Vienna began the game courageously and recorded the first long-range shot in the second minute, but it went well wide of the goal. Shortly afterwards, St. Pölten also had its first dangerous opportunity, but Vienna goalkeeper Schönwetter was able to defuse the ball.
Hostesses become more dominant
As the game progressed, the hosts became more dominant. In the sixth minute, Schönwetter was there again, but a little later she was powerless against a precise shot from Brunnthaler, who scored the 1-0 for St. Pölten. Despite the deficit, Vienna did not give up and continued to fight. The Viennese team’s best chance came in the 15th minute, when a corner caused confusion in St. Pölten’s defense, but the ball was cleared on the line. Five minutes later, things got dangerous again after a corner, but Hahn’s header was parried by the St. Pölten goalkeeper.
Clear conditions at the break
After a promising phase by Vienna, the Lower Austrians struck again. In the 25th minute, Hillebrand made it 2-0 after an attempted clearance by Schneiderbauer was unfortunately extended in her direction. Just two minutes later, Mikolajova increased the lead to 3-0.
It was not until the 35th minute that Vienna managed to create another notable chance. Hahn tried from a distance, but the shot did not pose any major problems for the opposing goalkeeper. Shortly before half-time, Vienna conceded the 4-0 goal from Glibo, which sealed the bitter half-time score.
No substitutions at half-time
Vienna started the second half unchanged and showed unbroken commitment despite the significant deficit. The Döbling team continued to try their best to score a goal against the serial champions, but the hosts from St. Pölten remained the dominant team and controlled the game.
In the 60th minute, coach Mark Dobrounig reacted for the first time and brought two fresh attackers into play, Kappenberger and Wucher, for Németh and Fankhauser. Shortly afterwards, St. Pölten had the next big opportunity, again running alone towards the goal. This time, however, Vienna goalkeeper Schönwetter was the winner in a one-on-one and prevented another goal. In the 66th minute, the Döbling team combined their strengths to fend off another dangerous attack: First, Schönwetter parried, then Schneiderbauer blocked the follow-up shot.
St. Pölten makes everything clear
St. Pölten continued to push for the next goal, and in the 70th minute Schönwetter was again able to safely hold a dangerous ball. But after a corner in the 73rd minute, the moment finally came: substitute Pekel shot from the penalty area and scored an unstoppable goal into the far corner to make it 5-0.
In the 79th minute, Vienna made another substitution, with Nikolic coming on for Schneiderbauer. Despite the significant setbacks, Vienna did not give up and continued to try to score a consolation goal. However, the St. Pölten women made it difficult for the Viennese, and the champions finally sealed the game with another goal to make the final score 6-0, which clearly underlined their dominance on the day. On Wednesday, the Vienna women will face the derby against Wiener Austria at the Hohe Warte.
SKN St. Pölten vs. First Vienna FC 1894 6:0 (4:0)
ADMIRAL Women’s Bundesliga, 3rd round
Saturday, August 10, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
St. Pölten Arena, 1,497 spectators
Tore: 1:0 Brunnthaler (8th), 2:0 Hillebrand (24th), 3:0 Mikolajova (26th), 4:0 Glibo (39th), 5:0 Pekel (65th), 6:0 Dubcova (83.)
Vienna: Schönwetter, Schneiderbauer (79. Nikolic), Cavic, Seidl, Fankhauser, Hahn, Rukavina, Gebert, Höcherl, Gutmann, Németh
