Salzburg – Sturm 0:0: It wasn’t until injury time that things really got going in the top game
If the entire Bundesliga encounter between leaders Salzburg and pursuers Sturm had been as emotionally charged as the injury time, one could quickly have spoken of a top game. Salzburg central defender Strahinja Pavlovic dribbled his way into the penalty area, and a duel ensued with Mohammed Fuseini, in which the Serb fell to the ground. The problem with this: Pavlovic is 1.94 meters taller than Fuseini by 25 centimeters and more than 20 kilograms heavier. For referee Stefan Ebner “too theatrical and a simulation”. That’s why he decided to swallow and showed Pavlovic the yellow-red card. “Of course you can discuss that. That might be too hard,” said Ebner. For Pavlovic, it can feel like a “safe penalty” in the game. “I felt the contact and fell to the ground. But you don’t have to give it,” he later put it into perspective. For Sturm coach Christian Ilzer it was “not a penalty, but not a yellow card either”.
This scene heated tempers. It would have been nice for the 16,094 spectators in the Red Bull Arena if all the players had shown this intensity and energy earlier. That wasn’t the case. The first half of the game rippled along without any real highlights. Only a free-kick from Jusuf Gazibegovic (32′), held by Philipp Köhn, and a committed attack from Pavlovic, who overran the entire storm defense but finished too weakly, remained as mini-opportunities on the plus side.
After the break, the guests got into the party better. In the 56th minute, the Grazers would have cheered integrated. Alexander Prass (“It was quite a game with minor relative chances”) played on William Böving, who served Tomi Horvat ideally in the backcourt. However, the Slovenian shot too centrally from a short distance, which is why Köhn was able to hold the ball in front of the line when he followed up. Böving later rounded a single Köhn, but was caught by Pavlovic, the best player that afternoon (80′). After a burst of energy down the left wing, David Schnegg served Albian Ajeti. The Swiss, who scored in the last two games against WAC and GAK, put the ball just past the short corner with his sole. Only Junior Adamu was dangerous for Salzburg. However, the ex-GAK player remained too imprecise (79th) or failed storm goalkeeper Jörg Siebenhandl (87th).
The black-and-whites are still on two points from the series champion. The next highlight follows on Thursday with the home game in the Europa League against Feyenoord Rotterdam. In the sold-out Merkur Arena, Sturm will lay the foundation for wintering internationally. “Of course we calculate something at home. We want to take revenge for the 0:6 swatter,” says Ilzer, who sees the four days of preparation for this game as a “luxury”.