No win against Sturm

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Hartberg and Sturm drew 1:1.

(Bild: Sepp Pail)

TSV Hartberg and Sturm Graz drew 1-1 on matchday 22 of the domestic Bundesliga. This means that Hartberg have also qualified for the championship group. Sturm were feeling the strain from Thursday. 

TSV Hartberg have secured their ticket for the Champions Group of the Bundesliga under their own steam. The team from Hartberg held runners-up Sturm Graz to a 1:1 (0:1) draw at home in the Styrian derby on Sunday and picked up the point they needed. Donis Avdijaj equalized Sturm's lead in the 70th minute through William Böving (29.). Graz finished the basic round four points behind league leaders Salzburg. After sharing the points, they are now two points behind.

Markus Schopp

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

After Manprit Sarkaria broke his ankle in the European Cup against Lille (0:3), Böving started alongside Mika Biereth for Sturm. In addition, ÖFB team player Alexander Prass returned to the team after muscular problems in his hip area. Niklas Geyrhofer replaced the suspended Jon Gorenc Stankovic in defensive midfield, while Tomi Horvat was absent due to illness. For Hartberg, top striker Maximilian Entrup was available again after back problems, while Maximilian Fillafer made his starting debut on the right side of midfield.

Sold-out arena
Sturm director Otar Kiteishvili forced Hartberg goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger to make his first save with the captain's ribbon on his arm with a drop-kick from the edge of the penalty area (14'). However, the home side held their own in front of 5,024 spectators in the sold-out Profertil Arena in the early stages. Storm's David Schnegg had the ball bounce into his hand from close range after a corner, but referee Sebastian Gishamer did not award a penalty after studying the video (28').

Practically on the counter-attack, Sallinger came unnecessarily far out of his box after a long clearance from Sturm goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros. A misunderstanding between the goalkeeper and Manuel Pfeifer allowed Böving to roll the ball into the empty net for his first league goal. Hartberg's uncertainty was palpable after that. The Styrians were virtually in the qualifying group at half-time, as the two Viennese clubs were leading.

Sturm miss the 2:0
David Affengruber missed a great chance to make it 2:0 shortly after the restart. After Sallinger had parried a Geyrhofer header, the Sturm defender headed against the crossbar from a free position in the far corner (54'). Hartberg then had their best phase of the game and were rewarded. After Entrup had missed once with a shot (62') and once with a header (65'), Avdijaj struck. The former striker surprised Jaros with a direct free-kick from an acute angle into the near corner. The ball was slightly deflected by Kiteishvili and went into the goal via the inside of the post.

Hartberg tried to hold on to the point and were lucky that substitute Szymon Wlodarczyk headed a Schnegg cross onto the outside of the net (84'). In the final minute, Seedy Jatta made a surprisingly quick comeback for Graz just two months after tearing his syndesmosis ligament (89'). However, the result remained unchanged and Hartberg celebrated exuberantly after the final whistle - including their own pre-printed Champions Group T-shirts.

Next setback for Sturm
The team from Eastern Styria only picked up their fifth point in their fifth game of the spring, but will play in the final round of the top six for the second time since 2020. Hartberg are now unbeaten in eight league home games. Sturm are unbeaten in five games against their Styrian rivals and in a total of ten competitive matches at home.

However, three days after the clear 0:3 in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Conference League against Lille, they suffered another minor setback. Christian Ilzer's team will play the second leg in France on Thursday.