Defender Kadri Mohammed made a quicker-than-expected recovery from injury to play in Austria Wien's 4-1 win at Rijeka in the Europa League Group D on Thursday night.
The centre-back was earmarked to spend 2-3 weeks on the sidelines after an injury in a league match.
The 21-year-old tore a fibre in the thigh after climbing off the bench.
But Mohammed was declared fit to partner Heiko Westermann as the Austrian side crushed their Croatian opponents.
Rijeka handed a starting role to former Ghana youth international Maxwell Boadi Acosty but was replaced after 55 minutes by Zoran Kvrzic.
Despite the win, Austria Wien lie third on the table behind AC Milan and AEK Athens.