It was the battle for second place. Sturm Graz demanded in the 26th round of the master group Sturm Graz. The people of Graz started right from the start like the fire brigade. The Grazers tried to press Austria high and to disrupt them early on in the build-up game. The guests focused on being good on the defensive. Graz dominated the game. The first top chance for the Ilzer team came in the seventh minute. After a failed shot by Gazibegovic, the ball came to Wüthrich, who finished in the five. Pentz was able to defuse the situation.
As the first half progressed, Austria got into the game a little better. However, the switching game of the violets was characterized by inaccuracies. In the final minutes of the first half, Graz increased the pressure again. Austria, on the other hand, tried to play with high balls. The spectators didn’t see any goals in the first half. So it stayed at 0:0.
Sturm Graz dominated the game in the second half. A shot attempt by Gazibegovic rolled just past the goal to the right. In the 50th minute Kiteishvili tried it from a distance. A minute later the doorbell finally rang in the violet box. Kiteishvili put Stankovic through with a brilliant pass behind the defence. The Graz captain took the ball with him and lobbed the ball over Pentz. As a result, Sturm was the better team. Höjlund pulled away after 57 minutes. But Pentz was able to clarify.
The lead of the Grazers was completely fine at this point. The Viennese acted without ideas. Christian Ilzer’s team didn’t give up and even tried to extend the lead. But the violets had an interesting opportunity in the 69th minute in the person of Vucic, when he was in front of Siebenhandl after a nice one-two. But the storm goalkeeper was able to defuse the situation. After 73 minutes, Rasmus Höjlund had Sturm’s next chance to score. The striker shot from the edge of the box. His shot just missed the goal. Although Austria tried to equalize in the final minutes, the violets remained harmless on the offensive. In the end, Sturm Graz deservedly won the game 1-0.
