Admira Wacker secured a comfortable 3-0 triumph over St. Polten in Tuesday’s Austrian Bundesliga play-offs with substitute Seth Paintsil bagging two assists.
With the visitors holding on to a slim lead at the NV Arena, the Ghanaian who was brought in with 11 minutes left to play conjured moments of magic to guarantee his team maximum points.
Wacker came into the encounter on the back of two successive defeats in the Austrian elite division and faced a tough task against the hosts who silenced Swarovski Tirol 5-0 the last time out.
Nevertheless, they took the lead in the 40th minute through Roman Kerschbaum who had been cautioned nine minutes earlier.
Even at the deficit, St. Polten pushed for an equaliser but their efforts met a strong resistance from the visitor’s backline plus impressive goalkeeping from Andreas Leitner.
In the 79th minute, manager Philip Thonhauser brought in Paintsil for Sinan Bakis – and that proved to be the tonic needed to secure a valuable away triumph.
Three minutes to full-time, the 24-year-old assisted Daniel Toth for his team’s second goal, before helping Pascal Petlach two minutes later.
Sierra Leone international George Davies was on parade from start to finish for Alexander Schmidt’s Polten while Issiaka Ouedraogo was handed a starter’s role but was substituted for Cory Burke after 64 minutes.
Ouedraogo, 31, has featured 12 times for the Burkina Faso senior national team, and eight times so far with a goal to show for his efforts for his club.
With the victory, Admira Wacker move up to fourth in the relegation-playoffs log having accrued 12 points from 25 outings, same as Polten although with an inferior goals difference.
Wacker host Swarovski Tirol in their next outing on Saturday, as St. Polten visit Rheindorf Altach on the same day.
Having featured in Tuesday’s encounter, Paintsil now boasts 15 Bundesliga games but still waits for his maiden goal.
He was promoted to the club’s senior team last season having spent four seasons in the Finnish league where he featured for FF Jaro and Jakobstads BK.
Boasting a Ghanaian passport, he is eligible to represent the Black Stars at international level.
