A draw in Graz: Austria narrowly missed out on victory

Austria put in a strong performance in Graz and were rewarded with a well-deserved point against the champions. After taking the lead through Tin Plavotić and seeing Aleksandar Dragović hit the woodwork, an away win seemed within reach, before a late set-piece goal from Paul Koller sealed the 1-1 draw. The Violets climbed to 5th place in the table. 

Following the defeat in Salzburg, Stephan Helm made two changes to the starting line-up: Tin Plavotić started in central defence in place of Johannes Handl, whilst up front Helm selected Sanel Šaljić to take Vasilije Marković’s place. Johannes Eggestein returned to the squad for the first time, whilst Abubakr Barry did not make the trip to the Styrian capital. With Mirko Kos also sidelined with a minor injury, Lukas Wedl was on the bench this time. 

Sturm Graz have drawn twice against LASK, and manager Fabio Ingolitsch also made two changes to his line-up. Jacob Hödl returned from suspension, whilst Gizo Mamageishvili started behind the strikers this time. Arjan Malic was sidelined through injury, and Ryan Fosso remained on the bench.  

The Violets held their own well in the early stages in Graz; Kelvin Boateng almost capitalised on a misplaced back pass from Emanuel Aiwu (8'). A header from Maurice Malone posed no threat (10'). The Sturm defence faltered briefly following a corner from Šaljić, but the Viennese failed to capitalise on the resulting scramble (16'). Manfred Fischer had a shot on goal in the 19th minute, but it was too central. 

At the other end, Hödl shot from a promising position, but Samuel Şahin-Radlinger was on hand to save (25'). Boateng had the best chance to put his side ahead following a long pass from Fischer and a slip by Aiwu, but was denied by Daniil Khudiakov in the reigning champions’ goal (32').

Tin Plavotić made a fine tackle to deny Otar Kiteishvili a clear-cut chance (39'), whilst Reinhold Ranftl was alert to a dangerous cross from Malone (44'). The first half ended goalless. 

There were no substitutions at half-time, and the home side had the first chance: Maurice Malone headed wide (50'). In the 54th minute, the packed away section erupted in celebration as Tin Plavotić put the Veilchen ahead with a powerful header from a Taeseok Lee corner.

Şahin-Radlinger tipped a deflected shot from Kiteishvili away from the top corner and also came out on top in a one-on-one with Malone (57', 61'). Aleksandar Dragović threw himself in the way of a shot from Seedy Jatta – the Graz side were pushing for an equaliser.

Stephan Helm brought Florian Wustinger on in place of Philipp Maybach. Following a free-kick from Fischer, Dragović struck the ball spectacularly against the post with a volley – that could have been the decisive moment (70').  

With fifteen minutes remaining, Johannes Eggestein was delighted to make his return. The German came on for Šaljić, whilst Vasilije Marković replaced Fischer. Şahin-Radlinger saved Austria with a save from Kiteishvili’s close-range effort (83’). Sturm managed to equalise nonetheless, with Paul Koller scoring with a header from a free-kick on the right – a frustrating moment (85’).

In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Johannes Handl and Matteo Schablas came on to replace the two South Koreans, Kang Hee Lee and Taeseok Lee. Gazibegovic prevented a good chance for Marković with a foul (90+7), and the match ended 1–1