Sturm wins high-scoring Graz derby 5:2 I 19.10.2024 The favorite clearly prevailed in the first Graz derby in the Admiral Bundesliga in over 17 years. League leaders Puntigamer Sturm Graz celebrated a 5:2 home win over promoted team GAK on Saturday evening in front of 15,717 spectators in the sold-out Merkur Arena, which means that the team remains winless at the bottom of the table after ten rounds. Jusuf Gazibegovic (34th), Otar Kiteischwili (40th) and Mika Biereth (50th) shot Sturm into a seemingly comfortable 3-0 lead. Daniel Maderner (54th) and Benjamin Rosenberger (56th) breathed new life into GAK. Seedy Jatta (64th) and again Kiteischwili (79th) then made things clear. In the end, Christian Ilzer's team was even able to save energy for their third appearance in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday (9 p.m.) against Sporting Lisbon. The schedule remains tight for GAK. Next Sunday, Rapid will be visiting Graz, and the following Saturday, coach Gernot Messner's team will have to travel to Salzburg. In between, there is a round of 16 match in the Uniqa ÖFB Cup in Bregenz. After riots surrounding the last derby in the cup last year (3:2 for Sturm), the city had initially appeared to have successfully prepared for the high-risk game. At least up until the end of the game, everything went peacefully, with the usual provocations and chants. Both fan stands celebrated the derby with elaborate choreographies for the eyes, but after three minutes the view was blurred. The game had to be interrupted for about four minutes because of clouds of smoke from the GAK sector. Deflected free kick brings lead Sturm dominated the match after that, but apart from a harmless header from Dimitri Lavalee, the massive away defense didn't allow much. With the dead ball, the champions found their way to victory. A curling shot from Emanuel Aiwu after a free kick did hit the crossbar (25'). In the 34th minute, however, Gazibegovic scored with a free kick from long range that was deflected by Milos Jovicic. Because the Sturm players then celebrated provocatively in front of the GAK sector, a cluster formed and the goalscorer was shown a yellow card. GAK seemed helpless in attack, and the Reds, who were mainly in blue, hardly provided any relief. Before the break, Sturm added another lucky goal. GAK defender Marco Gantschnig headed a Gazibegovic cross onto Kiteischwili's bottom, who celebrated the 2-0 without much effort (40'). Turbulent second half The second half was really turbulent. At first GAK celebrated what they thought was a goal that was disallowed because Cheukoua was offside (47th minute). Instead, a few moments later it was 3-0. Kiteischwili extended a Böving corner into the center, where Biereth pushed it in. But the preliminary decision did not last long. Maderner headed in a shot from Michael Cheukoua after a corner and gave his team new hope (54th minute). Rosenberger, who was completely free from the left wing towards Sturm goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen, continued the comeback with a goal into the near corner (56th minute). Sturm increases its lead again The favorite suddenly had to fight back into a game it thought it had already won. However, the black and white confusion did not last long. Biereth extended a Scherpen kick into the path of Jatta, who scored via the top of the crossbar and goalie Jakob Meierhofer to make it 4-2 (64th minute). The bottom team could have made it exciting again. Scherpen was on hand with brilliant reflexes against Cheukoua (73'). Biereth (76') and William Böving (78') missed great chances against a exposed GAK defense, but Kiteischwili did much better (79'). The Sturm substitute captain scored without hesitation from just outside the penalty area to make the final score 5:2. Comments on the game: Christian Ilzer (Sturm coach): “A remarkable derby in many ways. Seven goals, four from set pieces, a fantastic atmosphere. During the game, apart from the few minutes after the break, we were always on the offensive. It was key that we did not react to these two goals with shock, but with rolling attacks. We followed that up with two more goals and celebrated a very deserved victory. Twice five goals in special games – we can be proud of that.” Sturm Graz – GAK 5:2 (2:0) Merkur Arena, 15,717, SR Harkam Goal sequence: 1:0 Gazibegovic (34th) 2:0 Kiteischwili (40th) 3:0 Biereth (50th) 3:1 Maderner (54th) 3:2 Rosenberger (56th) 4:2 Jatta (64th) 5:2 Kiteischwili (79th)