FC Wacker Innsbruck will fight their way back to the Bundesliga after a 3-0 deficit and will have to admit defeat against the Styrians in the Bundesliga home premiere.

Innsbruck – Second game, second defeat for  Bundesliga promoted Wacker Innsbruck. In the first Bundesliga match on Innsbruck’s Tivoli after more than four years, Sturm Graz won 3-2 (1-0). The Innsbruckers, on the other hand, are still waiting for the first point after their return from the Bundesliga after another good performance and a 3-0 deficit in the meantime.

Wacker coach Karl Daxbacher switched from a five-man defence to a four-man defence after Austria Wien’s defeat in the opening match, and Daniele Gabriele provided an additional offensive force. Storm trainer Heiko Vogel also switched from a four-man to a three-man backline against the defeat in the Champions League qualification against Ajax Amsterdam and set three new ones with Anastasios Avlonitis, Lukas Grozurek and Markus Pink.

Wacker defensive sleeps at corner kick

In the initial phase Innsbruck was the more active team, Sturm initially presented itself flawed. So the team from Graz missed the first big chance. Peter Zulj finished in the sixth minute a good counter with a sloppy missed pass. After that, standard situations were the main danger. With such a pass, the team from Graz also managed the lead. Grozurek scored in the 21st minute after a corner played briefly unchallenged by the penalty area border.

Even after the Graz lead, the Innsbruckers remained the more active team and had two chances to equalize before the break. Stefan Meusburger headed just over the goal in the 30th minute after a corner from five meters. Seven minutes later Zlatko Dedic also missed from a short distance after Ilkay Durmus had given in.

Philipp Hosiner Honours 

Club 

FK Austria Wien

• Austrian Football Bundesliga: 2012-13 
• Austrian Cup Runner-up: 2012-13 

Individual 

• Austrian Football Bundesliga Player of the Year: 2012-13 
• Austrian Football Bundesliga Top Scorer: 2012-13 

Harrer with double pack

However, Sturm came out of the cabin better and had through Philipp Hosiner quickly two chances on the 2-0 (47., 50.). But in the 56th minute it was time: Innsbruck-Tormann Knett saved against Hosiner, Pink took over the rebound and shot from the penalty area into the orphaned goal. Practically in return, Gabriele had the chance to score, but his shot after a nice combination was too weak. On the other hand, Grozurek, who moved to the centre after the break for Sturm captain Stefan Hierländer, did better. In the 60th minute he hit the long corner from 18 meters and made the decision. Refer a friend to 32Red Bingo and get a free £5 bonus.

Nevertheless, the hosts didn’t get their hands on it, showed morale and came back into the game better. In the 73rd minute Dedic hit the crossbar by head. Martin Harrer scored the 1:3 goal in the 77th minute after a bad back pass from the penalty area into the empty goal. In the 83rd minute Harrer shot after a spectacular solo run still the connecting goal. The Innsbruckers then sensed the chance to equalize, but with the crowbar Wacker came to no more chance worth mentioning. In injury time, however, Matthias Maak’s rescue operation in front of the Innsbruck goal was a big success.

Voices to the game:

Karl Daxbacher (coach Wacker Innsbruck): “Maybe we expected too much from each other in the initial phase, acted too offensively, then the mistake lies with me. After the 0:1 we made many rooms available and went even more risk, with mistakes we came afterwards even more under pressure. The race to catch up is still positive in the end. Now we will see whether the highly praised team spirit of last year will last, because in critical situations you need something like that.”

Christopher Knett (Innsbruck-Tormann): “We had a match plan that was destroyed by a standard situation. We still wanted to be active and agile, but we didn’t succeed that much. The race to catch up shows how much morale there is in the team. We have to be more stable as a team, not only the defensive has something to do with it. In the second league it may not have been punished like that, in the Bundesliga it will be punished.”

Heiko Vogel (coach Sturm Graz): “Partly it was slapstick comedy today. I can’t really rejoice yet. I was happy that we had numerous chances. I prefer, I can say, that we have a poor evaluation of our chances than we have no chances at all. What we did after the 3-0 was unworthy, though. I already exploded in the break, was of the opinion that we could have led higher. That annoys me brutally.”

Lukas Grozurek (double goal scorer Sturm Graz): “We made it completely unnecessarily exciting. That shouldn’t happen normally. Catastrophic that we still swim there so. We can still do so many things better. I’m happy about my two goals. The coach said after the match against Amsterdam that I should decide the match.”