A bitter 0–2 home defeat against Sturm

Austria suffered a 0–2 defeat to Sturm Graz in the 8th round of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga. A goal conceded just as the half-time whistle blew, followed by a penalty awarded following a VAR review shortly after the restart, put the Styrians on course for victory. Oumar Diakité emerged as the match-winner for the Graz side with a brace. At the other end, the Violets were denied a goal despite creating some good chances.

Austria manager Stephan Helm made three changes to his starting line-up compared with the last match before the long international break, the 2–2 draw against GAK: Daniel Nnodim, now fit again following his bruised knee, Philipp Maybach and Sanel Šaljić came into the starting line-up, whilst international players Taeseok Lee, Kelvin Boateng and Vasilije Marković did not start this time. Tactically, Johannes Eggestein played as the lone striker, with Manfred Fischer and Šaljić behind him to provide attacking impetus. Nnodim took up the right-hand flank, whilst Reinhold Ranftl switched to the left. Maybach started in central midfield alongside Valentino Müller.

Despite numerous absences, the visitors’ manager, Fabio Ingolitsch, largely stuck with his tried-and-tested 4-4-2 system and made just two changes to the line-up: Luis Balbo and Oumar Diakité started in place of the suspended Jürgen Heil and Axel Kayombo. As the Graz side had to do without key players such as Otar Kiteishvili and Gizo Mamageishvili due to injury, Diakité formed the Styrian strike partnership alongside Simon Seidl.

Chances at both ends, but Sturm took the lead just before half-time

Amidst a fantastic atmosphere in a well-attended Generali Arena, Sturm Graz had the first clear-cut chance, with Samuel Şahin-Radlinger making a save against the unmarked Simon Seidl as early as the 5th minute. Austria’s first opportunity was not long in coming, however, as Johannes Eggestein narrowly missed the target with a shot on the turn following a long pass from Aleksandar Dragović (8’). Following a corner from Eggestein, Johannes Handl rose highest, but the ball went over the bar (13’). Šaljić scored what would have been the opening goal from a cross by Ranftl, but was clearly offside (16th minute).

The next fifteen minutes were somewhat quieter, before the Styrians had a chance for a header from Joshua Quarshie following a free-kick from Seidl (32'). Shortly afterwards, Jon Gorenc set up Stankovic, whose shot from a corner went over the bar (34’). Şahin-Radlinger was on hand to deny Diakité, though the Graz player was offside anyway (37’). Following a fine move involving Ranftl and Fischer, Šaljić unleashed a thunderous volley, but it was blocked (40’).

In the final seconds of stoppage time, SK Sturm took the lead when Oumar Diakité headed home from a cross by Luca Weinhandl to make it 0–1 (45+1’). This left the Veilchen trailing by a narrow margin at half-time.

A penalty decided the match in favour of the Graz side

Early in the second half, Diakité went down in the penalty area following contact with Ranftl; referee Walter Altmann initially ruled it a dive and showed the Sturm player a yellow card, but after consulting the video review, he reversed his decision to award a penalty. Diakité stepped up himself and confidently converted to make it 0–2 (55’).

After an hour, Stephan Helm made a double substitution and switched to a back four: Vasilije Marković and Julian Hettwer came on for Philipp Maybach and Ibrahim Buhari. Jacob Hödl shot over the bar (66’), whilst at the other end, Hettwer narrowly missed the crucial goal to pull one back after a pass from Eggestein (69’). Shortly afterwards, Seidl was denied three times in quick succession by Şahin-Radlinger (71').  

Reinhold Ranftl had a shot from point-blank range following a pass from Eggestein, but fired over the bar; in the process, he was given a heavy shove in the back by Hödl – though the refereeing team saw no reason to award a penalty (76'). Taeseok Lee and Kelvin Boateng replaced Šaljić and Nnodim; a shot from Boateng shortly after coming on was blocked (82'). Manfred Fischer hit the side netting with a header and was then replaced by Florian Wustinger (85'). Lee shot wide of the goal (89'), whilst Hettwer had two chances in added time but failed to convert either (90+1’, 90+4’). Khudyakov saved the final chance of the match from Kelvin Boateng, and Austria had to admit defeat to Sturm Graz, losing 0–2.    

Austria Wien – Sturm Graz 0–2 (0–1)

Austria: Şahin-Radlinger; Handl, Dragović, Buhari (64’ Hettwer); Nnodim (80’ Taeseok Lee), Maybach (64’ Marković), Müller, Ranftl; Fischer (86’ Wustinger), Šaljić (80’ Boateng); Eggestein

Sturm: Khudyakov; Malic, Quarshie, Koller, Balbo; Hödl (86’ Petrović), Weinhandl, Gorenc Stanković (79’ Halwachs), Matoshi; Seidl, Diakité (64’ Kayombo)

Goals: Diakité (45+1’, 55’, penalty)

Yellow cards: Nnodim (76); Weinhandl (66), Balbo (90)

Generali Arena, 14,351 spectators, referee Walter Altmann