Honours even under the lights in Graz

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·21 mars 2026

Honours even under the lights in Graz

Draw at Sturm

Daniel Beichler's team took on the league leaders with an all-out attacking mindset. While Yorbe Vertessen ended our four-match goal drought with a spectacular strike, the points were still shared. The 1-1 draw keeps all our hopes alive for the remainder of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga championship group, which will resume after the international break.

Match summary

"Attacking but not giving up" – with this motto, the traveling supporters urged our lads forward, and Beichler's team started the floodlit top-of-the-table clash with real attacking intent. Aleksa Terzic, one of four new faces in the starting eleven, provided the first attacking threat with a header, and Edmund Baidoo subsequently had a golden opportunity at his feet, but after a burst from Konate and the subsequent pass, he put the ball wide.

Vidéos OneFootball

Just as the home side were slowly finding their way into the game, and Malic sent a header on goal, our scoring drought was finally broken. Yorbe Vertessen launched the counter-attack himself, winning the ball, and after two or three more passes, took possession again. Undeterred by the tight angle, the Belgian powerfully fired the ball into the net for Salzburg (32')! We couldn't hold onto the lead until half-time, however …

… as Gorenc Stankovic was left unmarked after a throw-in. The home captain then scored to level just before the break (45+5'), after Alex Schlager had already prevented an equaliser with a spectacular diving save a few minutes earlier.

The second half was emotional, but lacked clear-cut scoring opportunities, which noticeably decreased in frequency after the restart. A Mamageishvili curing effort here, a Vertessen header there, and our team also squandered chances around the hour mark through Frans Krätzig – the full-back firing wide after a series of passes – and Karim Konate, who wasted a promising counter-attack.

Footballing matters gave way to bureaucratic ones in the final stretch: Anrie Chase received his second yellow card (90+1') after returning to the field following a treatment stoppage without referee Julian Weinberger's permission – however, this late numerical disadvantage had no impact on the end result. We therefore head home with a draw.

Views

First and foremost, the lads played really well, were incredibly tenacious, and rose to the challenge of the intense match we expected. It wasn't a super-attractive game, but it was a real battle. The timing of the goal we conceded was obviously very unnecessary, but all in all, we deserved a win. It's obviously difficult to be 100 percent focused in counter-pressing on the one hand, and on the other hand, to have the composure to escape the pressure when the opponents are doing the same.

Daniel Beichler

It wasn't exactly a spectacle. Both teams tried to bypass the defence with long balls and utilise their fast forwards. We shouldn't be making such simple mistakes as the goal we conceded after the throw-in - we need to analyse that. We played well in the first half and could have scored another goal or two, but overall, the 1-1 draw is a fair result.

Frans Krätzig

Match summary

Line-ups & substitutions

SK Sturm Graz: Bignetti – Hödl (70. Rozga), Malic, Mitchell (39. Aiwu), Vallci, Karic – Gorenc Stankovic ©, Fosso (87. Weinhandl), Kiteishvili – Mamageishvili (70. Malone), Jatta (87. Kayombo) FC Red Bull Salzburg: Schlager – Drexler, Chase, Schuster, Terzic – Bidstrup ©, Diabate, Krätzig (83. Yeo) – Baidoo (75. Redzic), Vertessen (75. Kitano), Konate (85. Onisiwo)

Referee: Julian Weinberger Goals: Gorenc Stankovic (45.+5) - Vertessen (32.) Yellow cards: Mamageishvili (13./Foul), Kiteishvili (51./Foul), Fosso (74./Foul), assitant coach Witamwas (90.+4/Dissent) bzw. Vertessen (38./Dissent), Drexler (74./Unsporting behaviour), Chase (77./Foul), Diabate (86./Unsporting behaviour) Second yellow card: Chase (90.+1/Unsporting behaviour) Attendance: 14,817