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Austria Klagenfurt vs Sturm – LIVE from 5pm

The Sturm men celebrate their victory at SK Austria Klagenfurt ...

(Bild: GEPA)

Sturm Graz's winning streak in Klagenfurt continues! However, luck was on the side of the champions in their 2:0 (0:0) win against Austria Klagenfurt in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

While Austria's Christopher Cvetko missed a penalty (67'), Otar Kiteishvili converted a controversial penalty (71') to take the lead, Mika Biereth then scored the final goal (98'). Sturm thus celebrated their seventh win in their seventh visit to Klagenfurt since Austria's promotion.

Klagenfurt without suspended defensive boss Mahrer 
Klagenfurt would have more than deserved a point in a duel with many controversial penalty area scenes. Even without suspended captain and defensive boss Thorsten Mahrer, Peter Pacult's side found the right means to counter Graz's attack from the outset and attempted to achieve success with quick counter-attacks.

The Carinthians also had the better chances. A header by David Toshevski after a corner kick was too weak and too central (28'). Goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen was also on hand ten minutes later when Ben Bobzien went in alone on the Sturm goal, but was unable to put the ball in the net from an acute angle (38'). The visitors, on the other hand, did not get a single shot on goal before the break. The only dangerous moment came when Seedy Jatta, the only new player in the starting eleven, failed to hit the ball properly after a pass from Horvat (30').

(Bild: APA/GERT EGGENBERGER)

(Bild: APA/GERT EGGENBERGER)

(Bild: APA/GERT EGGENBERGER)

Cvetko stepped up to take a penalty, but was denied by Scherpen
Things became hectic after around an hour, with referee Alan Kijas taking center stage three times in the space of a few minutes. First, Sturm were lucky when Simon Straudi took a free shot in the penalty area and was pushed from behind, but neither Kijas nor the VAR awarded a penalty (58'). A short time later, Kijas awarded a penalty after a VAR check when Emanuel Aiwu hit Toshevski on the edge of the box in a running duel. Cvetko stepped up but was denied by Scherpen (67').

On the counter-attack, the VAR was called upon again after a tackle between Biereth and Jonas Kühn, with Kijas ultimately awarding a penalty for handball - a very controversial one. Kiteishvili did not miss the chance and gave Graz the lead with his first shot on goal (71'). Sturm then had several chances against Klagenfurt, who were now on the attack. A shot from Tomi Horvat landed on the crossbar (75'), Amady Camara and Biereth were not decisive enough (83').

Biereth finally made everything clear in the 98th minute. Immediately before that, there had been another incident in the Graz penalty area which required the VAR but had no consequences. Sturm thus secured their second win in a row. For Klagenfurt, assistant coach Martin Lassnig and section manager Sandro Zakany were shown red (68').

The result:
SK Austria Klagenfurt - SK Sturm Graz 0:2 (0:0)
Klagenfurt, 28 Black Arena, 6540 spectators, SR Kijas

Goals: 0:1 (71st/penalty) Kiteishvili, 0:2 (98th) Biereth

Yellow cards: Robatsch, Wernitznig or Wüthrich, Gorenc-Stankovic

Klagenfurt: Knaller - Szerencsi, Gkezos, Robatsch - Straudi, Wernitznig (76. Dehl), Koch (87. Wydra), Cvetko, Kühn (80. Jaritz) - Toshevski (87. Binder), Bobzien
Sturm: Scherpen - Gazibegovic (90. Karic), Aiwu, Wüthrich, Lavalee (75. Johnston) - Gorenc Stankovic - Horvat (75. Zvonarek), Kiteishvili (86. Geyrhofer), Böving - Biereth, Jatta (75. Camara)