Salzburg hang on in Austria

FC Salzburg have retained the Austrian Bundesliga title by a point from FK Austria Wien after both clubs won on the final day of the campaign.

Huub Stevens' Salzburg, who lost 1-0 at home to their rivals on Sunday, triumphed 2-0 at fourth-placed SK Sturm Graz thanks to early goals from Simon Cziommer and Roman Wallner. That meant Austria Wien's 2-0 home victory against SV Ried, secured by a pair of Tomáš Jun strikes, was academic as Salzburg wrapped up their sixth championship, and their third since their change of identity from SV Austria Salzburg.

"We are overjoyed," said a visibly relieved Salzburg striker Marc Janko. "We deservedly won the title. There is a huge weight coming off our minds now. We had been lacking a little bit of a cutting edge in our most recent games. The pressure was not small."

While Janko's 39 goals were the main factor in Salburg's title success last term, this time around Stevens' side shared the scoring a little more evenly, with wingers Dušan Švento and Somen Tchoyi deserving credit along with midfielders Christoph Leitgeb, Nikola Pokrivač and Cziommer. Goalkeeper Eddie Gustafsson helped instil calm in the team, while many rated central defender Rabiu Afolabi as their star performer - Salzburg lost just once with the Nigerian on the pitch. "The title is vindication for our good work this season," said Stevens. "Now we have to concentrate on our preparations for the UEFA Champions League. This is our next goal."

Austria Wien will be joined in the UEFA Europa League next season by SK Rapid Wien, who finished third, two points behind their city rivals, after a 3-1 defeat of SV Mattersburg. Austria Wien defender Aleksandar Dragović said: "Congratulations to Salzburg; they deserve that title. We are not so disappointed; Salzburg were almost always top of the table. We never stopped thinking of winning the championship, but it's nice to finish with a win to stay ahead of Rapid. Next season, we want to go one better and win the league."