From Linz’s perspective, the gap to bottom-placed Lustenau is 15 points. On his comeback after an injury break, Ronivaldo scored the visitors’ long-lasting lead from a penalty kick (31′). Lukas Jäger saved a point late on for the leading Vorarlberg team (88th).
Altach had more of the game and quickly created a few half-chances. When Christian Gebauer volleyed, Nicolas Schmid also had to be ready in the Linz goal (13th). Mike-Steven Bähre missed the long best chance when he missed Atdhe Nuhiu’s header extension from a good position (23′).
Altach didn’t allow anything defensively, but was still 0-1 behind after half an hour. Goalie Dejan Stojanovic ran over Paul Mensah while trying to clean up. Ronivaldo converted the penalty with a precise low shot into the left corner (31′). The Brazilian was back in the starting line-up surprisingly quickly after suffering an ankle ligament injury in mid-December. His strength was enough for an hour.
10:1 shots for Altach at the break
The final statistics at the break were 10:1 for Altach. Vorarlberg only managed 13 goals in 17 games in the autumn – only bottom team Lustenau scored less often. The guests came out of the locker room with more control of the game. Little by little, Altach took control again. There were no clear shooting opportunities. Gebauer came a step too late in the center after fine preparatory work by Nuhiu (57th).
Altach coach Joachim Standfest pushed the offensive step by step. Debutant Sofian Bahloul and Gustavo Santos came into play at the hour mark, with Jan Jurcec shortly after. The Linzers were only concerned with keeping the lead over time and almost decided the game early with a rare counterattack. Connor Noß was offside by centimeters in the supposed 0:2. Just seconds after the VAR certification, Altach celebrated. Jäger sank a cross from Mohamed Ouedraogo with a kind of side kick from the edge of the penalty area (88th).
