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Thanks to the hits of Jakob Jantscher (29th), Kevin Friesenbichler (70th) and Bekim Balaj (77th), Sturm continued his winning streak with nine wins in the last ten competitive matches. With coach Christian Ilzer, Graz only lost one game (0: 2 against LASK). St. Pölten is going on a short vacation with a slightly negative balance and could be out of the top six on Sunday.
Before kickoff, former storm coach Otto Baric and Helmut Hausers, who was captain of the storm in the early 1960s, were remembered for a minute of dueling. St. Pölten then tried to break Graz’s run with a five / three-man defensive chain, and also found the first possibility: when Michael Blauensteiner tried to overtake Stangl, Sturms Dante paid attention (third).
Powerful and simple storm
Thereafter, the hosts were strong and established themselves with a direct vertical game in the opposite field. Jantscher forced Christoph Riegler to defend himself with a punch (11th) after a balloon from Andreas Kuen. When Friesenbichler fell after a duel with Kofi Schulz in the invited penalty area, referee Stefan Ebner let the (19) play.
Jantscher took the well-deserved lead with his fourth goal of the season in the 29th minute. The 31-year-old who flourished with Ilzer graduated from Otar Kiteishvili’s ideal pass. On the other hand, Alexander Schmidt arrived a step too late in a promising position (37th). Goalkeeper Jörg Siebenhandl avoided the biggest chance of equalizing, showing his best form in recent weeks with a reflection off George Davies. Dante blocked the margin.
Sturm recovers after a slack
Siebenhandl, who has not conceded a goal in more than six hours, remained focused early in the second half. In the 54th minute, the goalkeeper decisively shortened the angle against Michael Blauensteiner. Following the corner kick into the penalty area, Luan shot over the goal. During this phase, Sturm acted expectantly and without much structure. Coach Ilzer got bogged down in noisy skirmishes with the referee team and saw the yellow card.
But as usual in recent weeks, the Graz team survived a slight fall unscathed and extended the lead 20 minutes before the end: a blocked shot from Kuen landed at the feet of Friesenbichler, who scored for the second time in a row and then was replaced by Balaj (70º). The Albanian forward was there shortly after Jantscher’s free kick with his head (77) and hit the crossbar in the 88th minute.
Typical Bundesliga, twelfth day
Saturday:
Sturm – St. Pölten 3: 0 (1: 0)
Graz, Merkur Arena, SR Ebner
Sequence of objectives:
1: 0 Jantscher (29.)
2: 0 Friesenbichler (70.)
3: 0 Balaj (77.)
Sturm: Siebenhandl – Ingolitsch (83./Gazibegovic), Nemeth, Wüthrich, Dante – Hierländer, Gorenc-Stankovic (83./Jäger), Kiteishvili, Kuen (72./Ljubic) – Friesenbichler (71./Balaj), Jantscher (85. Huspek)
St. Pölten: Riegler – Steinwender, Luan, Muhamedbegovic – Blauensteiner (81./Tanzmayr), Luxbacher (78./Asadi), R. Ljubicic, Schulz – Davies, Schmidt, Hugi (74./Schütz)
Yellow cards: Ingolitsch, Wüthrich, Ilzer (coach)
The best: Jantscher, Kiteishvili, Siebenhandl or Blauensteiner, Schulz
