Christoph Monschein saved Ried from defeat with a penalty kick (77th) and with his first goal in the Rieder dress equalized the lead in Graz by debutant Christoph Lang (11th).
While Ried started with the same eleven as in the victory over Austria Lustenau, storm coach Christian Ilzer reacted to the dense program and rotated extensively as probably never before. Three days after the 1-0 away defeat in Champions League qualifiers at Dynamo Kyiv and ahead of the second leg on Tuesday, six freshmen came into the squad.
Ried comes back with fighting spirit
In attack, Lang got his chance instead of goalscorer Ramus Höjlund and thanked him after a few minutes. Graz, who clearly dominated the game for long stretches, conquered the ball with strong counter-pressing, and the 20-year-old used Vesel Demaku’s cross to take the lead.
Sturm failed to do so, especially through Manprit Sarkaria (26′, 36′), and came under pressure against Rieder, who had been harmless for 40 minutes, at the end of the first half. Shortly after the restart, Julian Wießmeier (50th) had the home team’s greatest chance to date with a header after a free kick.
Hopes of a turnaround were initially dashed when Leo Mikic had to leave the field within six minutes (62nd) because of two yellow cards. But the Rieder made up for the deficit with a lot of fighting spirit and still managed to equalize. After Sandro Ingolitsch fouled Tin Plavotic, referee Josef Spurny decided on a penalty after a VAR check, which Monschein safely converted. Marcel Ziegl (86th) even missed the chance to win.
Admiral Bundesliga, third round
Saturday:
Ried – Sturm 1:1 (0:1)
Ried, Josko Arena, 4,345 spectators, SR Spurny
Torfolge:
0:1 (11.) Lang
1: 1 (77.) Monschein (penalty)
Ried: Sahin-Radlinger – Ungar, Lackner, Plavotic – Wießmeier (70th Chabbi), Martin, Ziegl, Pomer – Nutz, Mikic – Monschein (89th Weberbauer)
Sturm: Siebenhandl – Ingolitsch, Affengruber (71st Hierländer), Borkovic, Schnegg – Gorenc-Stankovic (46th Wüthrich) – Demaku, Ljubic, Prass (64th Horvat) – Sarkaria (46th Höjlund), Lang (79th Emegha)
Gelb-Rot: Mikic (62.)
Yellow cards: Ziegl or Demako, Affengruber
The best: Plavotic, Wießmeier, Ziegl or Sarkaria, Demaku
