Bundesliga » News » Sturm again the first Salzburg pursuer
In the Bundesliga, Sturm Graz is hot on the heels of leaders Salzburg. The runner-up won 3-0 (1-0) at Wiener Austria on Sunday and, with two points, moved past the series champion at LASK to second place. Albian Ajeti (14th) and William Böving (58th) with their first league goals as well as substitute Mohammed Fuseini (92nd) scored in an entertaining game.
>> Match report: Austria Vienna against Sturm Graz
Graz are now unbeaten in five rounds, Christian Ilzer’s team has won four times. A series of six league games ended without defeat for Austria in front of 14,300 spectators. The Viennese slipped back to seventh place. Both teams continue their international journey: Sturm will meet Lazio Rome in the Europa League in Graz on Thursday, while Austria will be visiting Villarreal in the Conference League in Valencia. The great Viennese derby at Rapid then awaits the Favoritner.
Austria with good chances in the first half
Austria had reported a sold-out house for a long time, only in the away sector there were places left. The supporters greeted the teams with a great choreography. In Vienna’s constant rain, the guests who had started without Jakob Jantscher knew how to please immediately. Sturm caused problems for the Viennese defense with quick combinations in the first few minutes.
Ajeti tried from a tight angle, Christian Früchtl and Reinhold Ranftl cleared together. Böving and again Ajeti had not yet set their sights. Austria with 19-year-old Dario Kreiker (starting XI debut) on the left in the back four and the recently injured Muharem Huskovic in attack then seemed to have arrived. Just as the Violets were launching their first dangerous offensive actions, Storm struck.
Alexander Prass found Ajeti, the Swiss had a clear path and didn’t give Früchtl a chance. The Ilzer-Elf could have done better, David Affengruber missed the 2-0 with a header after a corner (17th). Austria wobbled, but managed to react and should have equalized before the break.
Fuseini with preliminary decision
After a worth seeing volley from Andreas Gruber including a Siebenhandl parade, Huskovic put the follow-up shot wide of the goal (18′), then Dominik Fitz hit the storm keeper’s leg from a few meters (21′). Again, the right flank with Ranftl and Gruber did well.
However, Austria was too inefficient, as Huskovic’s shot into the outside netting alone in front of Siebenhandl made clear (23′). The referee team saw the striker as offside, but a goal would have counted according to VAR. Things got dicey for the home side when Sturm came into direct play. Tomi Horvat and Böving initiate the next chance, Ajeti missed his brace (34th). After 45 minutes, anything but poor chances, it’s off to the cabins.
Sturm initially tried to take the pace out of the Austria game before the Styrians made the preliminary decision. Früchtl parried against Horvat, in the scene that followed, Amadou Dante found Böving with a cross, who successfully escaped from Kreiker.
At Austria, the newcomer Nikola Dovedan came on the offensive, but the effect was lacking. The violets couldn’t find any more spaces, they couldn’t counter anymore. 20 minutes before the end, Schmid took off two frequent players, Gruber and Braunöder. Storm will also change before the challenging coming weeks. The Styrians were close to 3-0 in the end, Fuseini finally hit with a dust collector in injury time.
papa