Rijeka celebrated a 1:3 victory against Austria in Vienna in the 3rd round of the Europa League group stage played on Thursday, October 19, 2017.
After unlucky and clumsy defeats against AEK and Milan, Rijeka gained vital points last night in Vienna against Austria, the team that took away Osijek's dreams of Europe in the playoff round for Europa League a few months ago, reports Gol.hr on October 19, 2017.
The match was won for Rijeka by two-time scorer Mario Gavranović (21st, 31st minute), and a hit in the last moments of the game by Zoran Kvržić (90 + 2). Austria’s goal came from Kevin Friesenbichler in the 90th minute of the match.
Rijeka came out ruthlessly for their first win of the group stage against a tensed Austria. These three points Rijeka achieved now keep them in the fight for the European competition.
After two great goals by Gavranović in the first half of the match, Matjaz Kek’s team then closed in on Austria and successfully kept the result until the final minutes of the match when Austria came back to secure a single goal. Fortunately, Rijeka’s Kvržić confirmed the victory just two minutes later, finding the back of the net for 1:3 and a celebration in Vienna.
In the second match of this group, AC Milan and AEK played a scoreless draw at San Siro. Croatia's Nikola Kalinić played for 62 minutes, while Marko Livaja played for 79 minutes.
Milan leads this Europa League group with seven points, AEK follows behind in second with five points, Rijeka falls just two points behind AEK in third place, and Austria remains in last.
In the next round, the same will rivals meet but at opposite stadiums. Rijeka will host Austria at Rujevica, while AEK and Milan will play at the Olympic Stadium in Athens. Both games are scheduled for November 2, 2017.
Excerpts taken from Gol.hr
