Violets celebrate 2-1 win against Sturm Graz

Austria Wien bounced back, defeating champions Sturm Graz 2-1 in the top match of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga in an almost sold-out Generali-Arena. Maurice Malone put the Violets ahead, Max Johnston equalised before the break. In the second half, Nik Prelec scored to make it 2-1 and Austria fought back to second place in the table with an impressive performance. 

Stephan Helm had to do without Johannes Handl, who was not in the squad due to a pulled collateral ligament. Philipp Wiesinger took his place. On the left flank, Hakim Guenouche was preferred to the slightly ill Matteo Pérez Vinlöf. Otherwise, the starting eleven remained unchanged from the game against Red Bull Salzburg.

Jürgen Säumel, who recently won three in a row with Sturm Graz, made one change to his team: Gregory Wüthrich returned to the team after serving a red ban, while Arjan Malić remained out.  

Malone scored to take the lead, Sturm equalised

Just under 14,500 spectators saw Austria dominate the game at the start. Tin Plavotić had the first chance following a corner from Dominik Fitz, but the ball went wide of the goal (13'). Abubakr Barry appeared in front of Kjell Scherpen after a pass from Wiesinger, but failed to beat the Graz goalkeeper (26'). A shot from Maurice Malone was blocked (27).

Graz's first chance came from Malick Yalcouyé, whose shot from long range was deflected out for a corner. Gregory Wüthrich headed over from the corner, but Samuel Şahin-Radlinger was on hand (35, 36). It was then back to the Violets: Manfred Fischer volleyed over, Malone extended with his head and Scherpen turned the ball over the bar (39').  After the corner kick, Plavotić tried a powerful shot, but Scherpen saved it. The subsequent cross from Reinhold Ranftl was headed home by Maurice Malone to make it 1-0 - the German's tenth goal of the season (40').

Unfortunately, the joy did not last very long as Max Johnston capitalised on a moment of inattention after an - irregular - throw-in and scored with a powerful shot from the edge of the box - 1-1 in the 45th minute. In stoppage time of a great first half, Malone hit the inside of the bar after an assist from Ranftl, just millimetres away from retaking the lead. 1-1 at the break.

Prelec shook the stadium

In the second half, it was again Maurice Malone who caused danger. However, Scherpen was able to clear his shot from an acute angle (50'). Leon Grgić had a chance from a similar position at the other end, but Şahin-Radlinger kept the ball out (52'). Dominik Fitz had two chances to score, one of which was saved by Scherpen, while the second attempt narrowly missed the target (56‘, 58’).

In the 61st minute, Fitz sent Malone on his way. Malone played in Abubakr Barry, who took the ball perfectly and finished immediately. Scherpen got his hand in between, the rebound landed with Nik Prelec, who pushed the ball over the line - 2-1 for the Violets.

Matteo Pérez Vinlöf replaced Hakim Guenouche, and a little later Andreas Gruber and Lucas Galvão came on for Maurice Malone and the injured Philipp Wiesinger. In between, Scherpen again had to deal with a long-range shot from fighting machine Reinhold Ranftl (67'). Nik Prelec and Tin Plavotić made way for Konstantin Aleksa and Marvin Potzmann, while Aleksandar Dragović prevented the champions from equalising with a heroic save on the line (83').

The atmosphere in the stadium was extraordinary, with every ball won being cheered frenetically. Austria took the lead with aplomb and a great game of football ended with a 2-1 victory for Violet over Sturm Graz. The gap to the champions has been reduced to three points, with revenge to be taken in Graz on Sunday.

Austria Wien - Sturm Graz 2-1 (1-1)

Austria: Şahin-Radlinger; Wiesinger (77' Galvão), Dragović, Plavotić (82' Potzmann); Ranftl, Fischer, Guenouche (62' Pérez Vinlöf); Barry, Fitz; Prelec (82' Aleksa), Malone (77' Gruber)

Sturm Graz: Scherpen; Johnston, Aiwu, Wüthrich, Lavalée; Gorenc Stanković (74' Chukwuani); Horvat, Kiteishvili, Yalcouyé (66' Camara); Grgić (74' Beganović), Bøving (84' Hödl)

Goals: Malone (40‘), Prelec (61’); Johnston (45')

Yellow cards: Plavotić (45'), Malone (63'), Barry (78'); Yalcouyé (43'), Aiwu (53'), Hödl (90+3')

Generali-Arena, referee Christopher Jäger, 14,452 spectators