Salzburg crowned champions of Austria

FC Salzburg have won their fourth league title in six years following an emphatic 5-1 victory away against SC Wiener Neustadt.

The result ensured that Salzburg maintained an insurmountable six-point lead over closest pursuers SK Rapid Wien with one game remaining, and stretched their unbeaten league run to 13 matches. Needing just a point to cross the finishing line, Ricardo Monez's side were gifted an early boost after five minutes when Neustadt's Andreas Schicker was sent off for bringing down Dušan Švento in the area, but David Mendes da Silva promptly missed from the spot.

Salzburg made amends six minutes later, however, when Stefan Maierhofer scored a quick-fire double to put the visitors in charge. Although Matthias Lindner then halved the deficit, Cristiano complemented Jonathan Soriano's second-half double to complete a routine win – and send the small band of visiting fans into raptures.

"Compliments to everyone; I am very proud of my team," said a triumphant Monez. "It was really hard work. The season did not always go as we wished. In the end, our hard work has paid off. We are deserving champions."

Maierhofer, who topped the scoring charts in Austria with 14 goals together with his team-mate Jakob Jantscher, added: "This is a beautiful moment. We trained hard all year and despite our poor form in the autumn, we deserved the title."

Salzburg could now complete a memorable season by wrapping up a domestic double when they face SV Ried in the Austrian Cup final on 20 May.