The decision in the title fight will be made in the final round next Sunday. Then Sturm has Klagenfurter Austria as guests in Graz and still has all the trump cards in his hand to be crowned champions for the first time since 2011.
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In Linz only a draw was possible for the cup winner. After Florian Flecker (20th) had brought the Upper Austrians ahead, Otar Kiteishvili (30th) took advantage of a mistake by the LASK defense to equalize. The in-form Georgian scored his ninth goal of the season shortly after the break (48′). Christian Ilzer’s team seemed to be on course for a mastery before Marin Ljubicic (77th) secured a deserved draw for Linz with a foul penalty. Sturm hit the crossbar in the finish.
LASK had won four of five games under interim coach Thomas Darazs before kick-off, and the task for Sturm was a big one. “SK Sturm will be the new champions” was announced by the Graz fans who had traveled via a banner before kick-off. Ilzer had to do without two supports: Jon Gorenc Stankovic was suspended and David Affengruber was suffering from muscular problems. Niklas Geyrhofer started in the central defensive midfield, David Schnegg in the back four. The suspended Sascha Horvath was not there for LASK, Maksym Talowjerow took over his role in midfield.
Both teams wait and see at the beginning
The 18,500 spectators saw little flow of the game on both sides and many duels. Both teams were careful not to allow anything and initially made no mistakes. Sturm appeared dangerously in the opposing penalty area for the first time, William Böving was denied by LASK keeper Tobias Lawal (13th) after a turbulent scene. The individual class of two offensive forces then initiated the Linz team’s lead.
Moses Usor tricked Alexander Prass and Schnegg on the sideline and fed Adil Taoui, who in turn let Dimitri Lavalee drive into space and served Flecker in an exemplary manner. Shortly afterwards, the goalscorer almost had the ball again with Taoui’s next cross. However, in the middle of the high phase, the Linz defense risked too much and gave the Graz team the equalizer.
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Image: GEPA pictures/Christian Moser
Source: Nachrichten
