The reigning double winner Sturm Graz was still a bit too big for FC Blau-Weiß Linz: after home wins against Wiener Austria, Rapid and LASK, they lost 1-2 in the Bundesliga against the Styrians first defeat of the season in the Hofmann Personal Stadium at home.
“We saw a very fast, intense game in which Sturm Graz was the better team in terms of football. You have to be able to accept defeats, but it was also our fault that we didn’t get a point,” said the Blue and White coach Gerald Scheiblehner highlighted three missed great chances to equalize in stoppage time: storm goalie Kjell Scherpen was there with two brilliant deeds against Ronivaldo (94th, 95th), Manuel Maranda put the follow-up shot on the top edge of the crossbar. Scheiblehner said with a smile: “Manuel has shown that he is a good defender.”
Bild: GEPA pictures/ Christian Moser (GEPA pictures)
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Ronivaldo missed a great chance to equalize in the finish
Bild: GEPA pictures/ Christian Moser (GEPA pictures)
Previously, it was the guests from Graz who put their stamp on the game: Mika Biereth had given Sturm the lead in the 18th minute, and Thomas Goiginger managed to equalize. Otar Kiteishvili scored the decisive goal from a penalty (71′). Of all people, new signing Silvan Wallner, who came at halftime instead of captain Fabio Strauss, was responsible for the penalty. “Silvan played a good game. With more rhythm in the game he might not have made this foul. That’s our job to work on it,” commented Scheiblehner.
Nevertheless, after the final whistle, the 47-year-old’s focus was on another strong home performance against a top opponent: “In the end, we are also proud that we were so close, especially since Sturm Graz played a good game. Big praise for the team Despite an incredibly difficult game, he always believed in himself.”
After the duel, Scheiblehner’s coaching colleague and friend Christian Ilzer also praised his team: “An intense game, just as we expected. You have to congratulate Blau-Weiß Linz on how they have developed. They don’t have LASK here for nothing and Rapid defeated. It was a difficult task to leave the pitch as winners.”
Appreciative words that Scheiblehner of course played back – he wished the black and whites good luck for the upcoming game in the Champions League against Bruges and will keep his fingers crossed for them: “In the Champions League, as an Austrian club, you are always an outsider. But Sturm With his energetic style of play, he always has a chance, even if the defensive failures of Dimitri Lavalee, Gregory Wüthrich and Jon-Gorenc Stankovic certainly cause them problems.”
The latter was injured in Linz shortly before the break and suffered a comminuted fracture of the spoke head in his left arm. The storm captain has already had surgery and will be out for several weeks. At Blau-Weiß, the list of failures is expected to become smaller in the coming weeks: goalie Radek Vitek and central defender Martin Moormann could return to the training field this week and take part in at least parts of the units again. BW coach Scheiblehner hopes that both will be ready for action again after the upcoming international break.
