Hard-fought point claimed at Sturm | OneFootball

Engaging 1-1 draw keeps us top

 Our Red Bulls took the developing title fight to the champions in Graz. The hosts had more of the first half, and after they took the lead at the start of the second, our boys battled back to level thanks to Yorbe Vertessen.

Match summary

With captain Alex Schlager back in our goal, neither side needed much time to feel each other out as the match started very energetically. Malone had the first chance, but the Graz striker couldn't capitalize on a cross from Malic (5').

Jürgen Säumel had clearly prepared his team well for our lads, and getting through to Christensen's goal remained a rarity until the half-hour mark. Too few precise passes in the final third and too many lost challenges would be a rough summary of the game so far.

The first noteworthy chance for Thomas Letsch's team then finally came: after winning the ball in our half, it found its way to Edmund Baidoo, who passed it on to Sota Kitano. The creative playmaker, with his usual excellent vision, found Petar Ratkov, who had crept up from the edge of the box, but his header went just wide (33'). Edmund Baidoo did much better a little later, receiving a perfectly timed through ball from Clement Bischoff, sending the onrushing Sturm goalkeeper the wrong way, and scoring a beautiful goal from a very tight angle (41'). We were in front! Or were we? VAR called referee Ebner over for a review, and after his video analysis, he disallowed the goal – a foul by Ratkov on Lavalee was deemed to have taken place in the build-up.

Things got even worse right after the restart when Jacob Rasmussen's header landed straight to the hosts. Grgic, as the last man back, got a knee to the ball deflect Kiteishvili's shot decisively and leave Schlager with no chance (46'). At the other end, our Danish defender appeared threateningly in front of Christensen after a corner, but the header posed no real challenge for the Sturm goalkeeper (50').

A few moments later, our lads were on the attack again: Stefan Lainer set up Kitano, who didn't hesitate, and shot, but his effort sailed well over the bar – a pass to the better-positioned Bischoff would probably have been the wiser decision (54'). After a brief lull in attack from both teams and a few substitutions, our Salzburg side found their way back into the game. Lainer was once again the instigator, setting up Yorbe Vertessen, who played a one-two with Moussa Yeo before unleashing a powerful shot into the back of the net – for the long-awaited equalizer (65').

The match was intense, above all else, so it was no surprise that both sides created significantly more chances in the second half. Christensen, for example, cleared the ball just ahead of Baidoo, who was poised to pounce (78'), while at the other end of the pitch, Schlager was forced to make a save from Hödl, who had already picked out the bottom left corner (87').

With no further goals coming, SK Sturm Graz and our Red Bulls shared the points. Now we head into the final international break of the calendar year, and several of our lads are departing to join their respective national teams – we'll keep you updated on that, of course. Our next match will take place on Sunday 23 November when our team will be in action at the Tirol's Tivoli stadium at 14:30.

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Thomas Letsch

Yorbe Vertessen

Match data

Line-ups & substitutions

SK Sturm Graz: Christensen – Malic (82. Mitchell), Oermann, Lavalee, Karic – Horvat, Gorenc-Stankovic ©, Kiteishvili (82. Hödl), Chukwuani (75. Rozga) – Malone (61. Kayombo), Grgic (75. Jatta) FC Red Bull Salzburg: Schlager © – Lainer (72. Trummer), Schuster, Rasmussen, Terzic – Diabate, Kjaergaard (83. Bidstrup) – Baidoo (83. Aguilar), Kitano (62. Yeo), Bischoff (62. Vertessen) – Ratkov Goals: Grgic (46.) - Vertessen (65.) Attendance: 15.517 Referee: Stefan Ebner Yellow cards: Mitchell (90.+4) -  Ratkov (44./Foul), Lainer (66./Dissent), Diabate (71./Foul)

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