Sturm Graz missed out on top with a 1-1 draw at Rapid Sprung

Salzburg had already surprisingly lost 1-0 to promoted team Blau-Weiß Linz on Saturday. There was also only one draw for third-placed LASK; no goals were scored in the home game against fifth-placed Hartberg.

Vienna Austria slipped deeper and deeper into the crisis. The favorites suffered a 1-2 defeat in Altach and are already without a win in six league games. There were only two draws for the tenth place in the table, which is only three points away from bottom team Lustenau. The Vorarlbergers improved to sixth place.

On Saturday, fourth-place Austria Klagenfurt (1-0 against Austria Lustenau) and eighth-place WAC (3-2 at WSG Tirol) also celebrated victories.

Standoff in Hütteldorf

The hit of the eighth round of the Bundesliga between Rapid and Sturm Graz ended with a 1-1 (1-1) draw in Vienna on Sunday. In front of 21,600 spectators, the home team took the lead with an own goal from David Schnegg (21st), Alexander Prass equalized four minutes later. The Styrians missed out on making it to the top of the table, but came within one point of Red Bull Salzburg and are the only team still unbeaten this league season.

Rapid, on the other hand, was overtaken by Altach and is now only seventh in the table. The Hütteldorfers had a little more of the game in an intense and duel-focused match, but it wasn’t enough to win over the cup winners and runners-up, also because Fally Mayulu missed a shot from point-blank range in the 77th minute.

Storm coach Christian Ilzer decided not to rotate too much after Thursday’s 1-2 home defeat in the Europa League against Sporting Lisbon; only four players were new to the starting line-up compared to the duel with the Portuguese. The guests had their first chance: After a free-kick cross from Manprit Sarkaria, the ball came to Dimitri Lavalee, who found his master from a tight angle in Rapid goalie Niklas Hedl (8th).

There was a lot of tension and fighting before the Rapid team took the lead with their first really successful action. After Sarkaria lost the ball, Moritz Oswald played to Marco Grüll, whose cross landed at Matthias Seidl. The ÖFB team player took a shot, storm keeper Kjell Scherpen parried, but the ball jumped over the goal line from Schnegg.

Sturm quickly dealt with the setback. Prass got to the ball just inside the box and finished with a remarkable shot into the far corner. Afterwards, both teams wore each other out in duels, which meant that the playful quality was neglected. Rapid gained a slight field superiority towards the end of the first half, but was unable to capitalize on it.

The second 45 minutes began with a good opportunity for Seidl – the Salzburg player missed from a promising position after Grüll’s assist – and an interruption lasting several minutes. The Rapid Ultras had ignited pyrotechnics on the occasion of their 35th anniversary, which led to visibility obstructions.

The next pyro show from Block West followed at the beginning of the Rapid quarter hour, including fireworks fired outside the stadium. It was precisely in this phase that Nicolas Kühn ran towards the goal alone and crossed for Mayulu, but the substitute for the still unfit Guido Burgstaller managed the feat of sending the ball over the crossbar from around three meters.

Rapid stayed on the trigger, but the redeeming 2-1 was no longer possible. In the 15-minute stoppage time, Sturm seemed to be content with the draw given the recent loss of strength, with Jon Gorenc-Stankovic once again appearing dangerously in front of the goal, but firing well wide of the far corner (99th). On the other side, Oliver Strunz stumbled on a promising finish (102′).