After the derby victory, our team set off on the long journey to Ländle with confidence and wanted to continue to cause a stir against the Vorarlberg team, who had been waiting for a win for three games. Coach Gerald Scheiblehner had to improvise again this time due to a number of absences – Mensah was also suspended.
Ideal external conditions, but on the pitch the expected intense and fierce match with lots of duels on both sides. Both teams were rather cautious at the beginning, especially in attack, not wanting to take many risks. The best opportunity for Altach came after around 20 minutes, when Strauss cleared in front of Santos in dire need and Lukse deflected the ball for a corner. Speaking of Lukse – in the starting eleven today in place of the injured Vitek and always on the spot, as was captain Fabio Strauss, who did a great job against striker Santos, who kept flashing dangerously.
We remained harmless in attack in the first half – no shots on goal, no corners and so we went into the dressing rooms goalless – we needed an impulse.
Right at the start of the second half, there was exactly the bombshell we had been waiting for. A counterattack via Goiginger – a fantastic pass from Briedl and Seidl to Ronivaldo and our striker was there to make it 1-0 – it couldn’t have been played out any better in such a transition situation. The goal was clearly good for the game – it really got going.
The best chance for Altach to equalize came in the 60th minute when Santos’ shot from a tight angle hit the post. Otherwise, the perfectly set-up Linz defense took the wind out of Altach’s sails. The Vorarlberg team then strengthened their offense and that created space. Substitute Schmidt then missed two such counterattack opportunities in the game.
Lots of changes on both sides – among others, our new signing Silvan Wallner made his debut and immediately fitted into the team, which made no more mistakes in the finish and held on to the narrow 1-0 win. Once again, it was a really strong collective and this extraordinary coolness from Ronivaldo.
