Sturm Graz wins major away win at Ried

Sturm Graz remains undefeated in the Bundesliga. The Graz team celebrated a 2-0 victory in the fifth round on Saturday against the weakened SV Ried. After the second victory, Sturm remains in the upper half of the table, the promoted Upper Austria could even slide to the bottom of the table on Sunday. Stefan Hierländer (9th) and Ivan Ljubic (78th) scored the goals for the Styrian superiors in front of 1,407 spectators, outnumbered from the 67th minute.

In the fourth consecutive loss at Ried, the corona virus also played a role this time. Due to at least four officially confirmed Covid 19 cases and injuries, the High Austrians were unable to have eight players, including regular team Marco Grüll, Markus Lackner and goalkeeper Samuel Sahin-Radlinger.

Daniel-Edward Daniliuc made his Bundesliga debut at the Rieder Tor. The 20-year-old, who had also not been able to train for ten days, faced continuous attacks. He got really precarious for the first time in the 8th minute when Kevin Friesenbichler’s shot was saved from close range by the left crossbar. Storm manager Christian Ilzer’s anger at the big missed opportunity quickly evaporated: Hierländer fired from outside the area through the inside bar behind Daniliuc (9th).

The Graz team dominated the match against the home team that seemed offensive and lacking in ideas, but lost a higher lead before the break. Defensively, Sturm, who with two goals conceded, continues to provide the best defense in the league, on paper at least, was completely safe. Ilzer had rebuilt his team after the loss of offensive man Otar Kiteishvili (torn muscle) from behind: Mainz loan officer David Nemeth replaced Jon Gorenc-Stankovic in central defense, who advanced to defensive midfield. Ljubic in turn gave the “tens”.

Even after the break, the guests worked towards the second goal. But Rieder survived the first moment of shock unharmed when goalkeeper Daniliuc missed a corner kick from Kuen (51.). After an hour, the game became more open. Despite being overweight, Sturm was hardly specific, and Ried manager Gerald Baumgartner brought in another striker in Bernd Gschweidl (64th).

Possible offensive momentum came to a sudden halt: Ried defender Constantin Reiner turned red after a foul from behind on Friesenbichler by referee Harald Lechner. that he missed from a few meters on pole (74º).

Jantscher only missed another great opportunity (76th), but assisted with his shot two minutes later to make it 2-0 through Ljubic, who dusted off. For the most part, Sturm was closer to 3-0 in the end: Hierländer hit “Metall” for the third time that day (85th) when he tried to hit the crossbar from a distance. Sturm’s dominance is also evident in the score of 24: 3 for the Blue and Whites, who are third in the table until Sunday.

The Bundesliga table