In front of largely empty stands, Kristoffer Wernitznick made a solo run towards the WSG goal after three minutes, but goalkeeper Adam Stejskal left his goal just in time and the ball slipped through Carinthian’s feet.

Good luck and bad luck for WSG in the first half

Moments later, Jamie Lawrence was booked for a foul on Ben Babsian (8th). After VAR intervention, referee Alain Sadikovski considered sending the team off for several minutes due to an emergency stoppage, but the WSG defender was allowed to continue playing. Stejskal punches a powerful Kvetko free kick (14th).

Both teams had chances in a balanced game, but they were unable to score in the first half. Niklas Cerenci prevented WSG from taking the lead with a potential own goal from Jannik Robach (22nd) after receiving a pass from Mahamadou Diarra, who replaced injured striker Lukas Hindersir. Diarra also failed to score with a free-standing header (37′).

The guests also had other good opportunities. Stejskál Doszewski’s header (32′), skipper Christopher Kvetko misses in a promising position (36′). In between, Bobzien fell after contact with Sulzbacher in the penalty area, but there was no penalty for the Violets from Wörthersee.

Wattens cannot use the ball to score

Little changed after the break. Wotton had more possession but Klagenfurt had more chances. Doszewski (49′) was denied by Stejskal (49′) from a tight angle, Babjian drove the ball over the bar from six meters (63′). Two minutes later, Stefan Skrbo failed to put the ball past Austrian goalkeeper Marco Gnaller at the other end. To get revenge, Doszewski headed Wernitznick’s excellent Stankel pass over the line.

Thus, Peter Begelt’s team came close to the second goal. A Cvetko volley from a corner hit the bar (76′), a deflected Bobzien shot went just wide (77′), and Stejskal had to intervene when Cvetko misfired (77′). However, the Watters failed to produce a compelling final attack.