Stefan Hierländer (9th) and Ivan Ljubic (78th) scored the goals for the superior Styrians in front of 1,407 spectators, who were outnumbered from the 67th minute. In the fourth consecutive defeat in Ried, the corona virus also played a role this time. Due to at least four officially confirmed Covid 19 cases and injuries, the Upper Austrians were unable to have eight players – including the regular team Marco Grüll, Markus Lackner and goalie Samuel Sahin-Radlinger.
Daniel-Edward Daniliuc made his Bundesliga debut in the Rieder Tor. The 20-year-old, who had also been unable to train for ten days, was faced with rolling attacks. It got really precarious for the first time in the 8th minute when the left bar saved the shot from Kevin Friesenbichler from close range. Storm coach Christian Ilzer’s anger about the missed big chance quickly evaporated: Hierländer shot from the outside of the penalty area via the inside bar behind Daniliuc (9th).
Sturm inflicted the next defeat on Ried
Promoted SV Ried has to accept the next setback in the Bundesliga. The Innviertler have to admit defeat at home to Sturm Graz 2-0.
Sturm sets the tone
The Graz team dominated the game against the offensively courageous and unimaginative-looking hosts, but missed a higher lead before the break. On the defensive, Sturm, who with two goals conceded, continues to provide the league’s best defense, at least on paper, was completely safe. Ilzer had rebuilt his team after the loss of offensive man Otar Kiteishvili (muscle torn) from behind: Mainz loan David Nemeth replaced Jon Gorenc-Stankovic in central defense, who advanced into the defensive midfield. Ljubic, in turn, gave the “tens”.
Even after the break, the guests worked towards the second goal. But the Rieder survived the first moment of shock unscathed when goalie Daniliuc missed a Kuen corner (51.). After an hour the game became more open. Despite being overweight, Sturm was hardly concrete, and Ried coach Gerald Baumgartner brought in Bernd Gschweidl, another striker (64th).
Reiner sees red
The burgeoning offensive urge was suddenly stopped: Ried defender Constantin Reiner looked red after a foul on Friesenbichler from behind by referee Harald Lechner. Shortly afterwards, the intensive but hapless working day for Friesenbichler was over, his replacement Bekim Balaj immediately dropped for Ljubic who failed from a few meters on the pole (74th).
Jantscher first missed another big chance (76th), but assisted with his shot two minutes later to make it 2-0 through Ljubic, who dusted off. In the majority, Sturm was closer to 3: 0 in the finish – Hierländer hit “Metall” for the third time on that day (85th) when he tried to hit the crossbar from a distance. The dominance of Sturm can also be seen in the shot balance of 24: 3 for the black and whites, who are third in the table until Sunday.
Voices for the game
Gerald Baumgartner (Ried trainer): “We congratulate Sturm on a deserved victory. Nevertheless we tried to stop a strong opponent with our resources. We didn’t really do much wrong either. In my opinion, the guys who were in the field performed well. In the second half we really tried to put pressure on us to score the goal so that we could maybe take a point. The exclusion was very tough. At the moment we are paying a lot of money. “
Christian Ilzer (Sturm-Trainer): “I think we don’t have to discuss today whether the win was deserved. From the very first minute it was a very confident appearance for my team. In the course of the game it was almost impossible to grasp how many chances we needed to really decide this game early. After the 2-0 win, I was very relieved. Up to that point, however, we have implemented a lot well, had a good positional play, have always had great chances to score and have also defended the long Ried balls well as a group, which has taken Ried a great strength. “
Ilzer on the exclusion of Reiner: “In the game I also perceived it as a hard red card, it might have been enough for a yellow card. But I didn’t see it close to the referee. “
Tipico Bundesliga, fifth round
Saturday
Ried – Sturm Graz 0: 2 (0: 1)
Josko-Arena, 1,407 spectators, SR Lechner
Goal sequence:
0: 1 Hierländer (9.)
0:2 (78.) Ljubic (78.)
Ried: Daniliuc – Takougnadi, Reifeltshammer, Reiner, Lercher – Ziegl, Satin (64./Gschweidl) – Canadi (90./Haas), S. Nutz, Grubeck (75./Meisl) – Sulley
Sturm: Siebenhandl – Ingolitsch, Nemeth, Wüthrich, Dante – Hierländer (87./Zettl), Gorenc-Stankovic, Ljubic (79./Gazibegovic), Kuen (87./F.Mwepu) – Friesenbichler (72./Balaj), Jantscher ( 79./Huspek)
Red card: Reiner (67th / foul game)
Yellow cards: Nutz, Takougnadi or Gorenc-Stankovic, Mwepu
The best: Reifeltshammer or Jantscher, Hierländer, Ljubic
