"Wolves" win with 3:0

LIVE from 5pm: Wolfsberger AC vs Sturm Graz

Sturm players have rarely been able to assert themselves against the WAC ...(Bild: GEPA)

After SK Rapid, Wolfsberger AC also "slayed" champions Sturm Graz! In the 18th round of the Bundesliga, coach Dietmar Kühbauer's team celebrated a 3:0 home win against the team from Graz on Saturday. 

The match-winner was Dejan Zukic, who scored twice in the first half (17th, 23rd). In addition, WAC newcomer Alessandro Schöpf gilded his Bundesliga debut with a magnificent goal (83'). The Lavanttaler thus also decided the second season duel with the double winners 3:0 in their favor.

For Sturm, on the other hand, it was a day to forget; after the fire at the training center in Graz during the night, the next shock followed in Wolfsberg in the evening. Although coach Jürgen Säumel's team remain top with 37 points, Vienna's Austria can draw level with a derby win on Sunday. WAC are third with 32 points and can hardly be displaced from the top six.

Short-term absence of Mayulu
Both coaches made hardly any changes compared to the previous week. As central defender Dominik Baumgartner was not match fit in time following an infection, the captain had to be replaced by Cheick Mamadou Diabate. Säumel had initially only planned one change in the Styrian defense - Emanuel Aiwu for Niklas Geyrhofer. However, striker Fally Mayulu suffered an injury in the warm-up, which meant that 19-year-old Leon Grgic slipped into the starting eleven at short notice.

In temperatures just below freezing, champions Sturm made an unusually large number of mistakes in their build-up play, which the WAC were able to exploit with lightning-fast switching actions. Zukic narrowly missed taking the lead after a long ball (8') and Thierno Ballo also missed (11'). After the "Blackys" lost the ball again, the time had finally come: Zukic finished off a long ball from Simon Piesinger with a powerful shot into the far corner to make it 1:0.

Zukic scores a brace, Schöpf scores on debut
Shortly afterwards, the visitors failed to deal with a Wolfsburg throw-in. Ballo served the ball to Zukic in dreamlike fashion - and the scorer of the 1:0 scored again. It was the Serb's sixth goal of the season. There was nothing to see from Sturm in attack for a long time until Seedy Jatta shot past the empty goal from a few meters after a brilliant Kiteishvili pass (37'). Graz now pressed for the equalizer before the break - in vain. At the other end, Ervin Omic missed the opportunity to make it 3:0 (42').

Säumel reacted at the break and brought on Tomi Horvat and Emir Karic for William Böving and Dimitri Lavalee. However, the hosts got off to another better start. Zukic failed to clear a Jasic cross with a spectacular direct shot past Scherpen (55') and Ballo was too imprecise (60'). In the 74th minute, Kühbauer brought on Schöpf for the double goal scorer, the 31-year-old's first ever appearance in the domestic Bundesliga. And it took the former Austrian international less than ten minutes to make the headlines. Schöpf curled a long-range shot into the Graz goal via the inside of the bar. The game was now decided.

After the 3-0 win in Graz in the fall, the Carinthians once again took the three points in their second clash of the season and celebrated their sixth consecutive competitive win. It was Sturm's first defeat in the league after eleven unbeaten games. The WAC now face an away game at WSG Tirol next Saturday, followed a day later by Blau-Weiß Linz.

The result:
Wolfsberger AC - SK Sturm Graz 3:0 (2:0)
Wolfsberg, Lavanttal-Arena, 5353 spectators, SR Talic

Goals: 1:0 (17.) Zukic, 2:0 (23.) Zukic, 3:0 (83.) Schöpf

Yellow cards: Omic, Gattermayer, Jasic or Kiteishvili, Malic

WAC: Polster - Diabate, Nwaiwu, Wimmer - Jasic (87. Matic), Piesinger, Zukic (74. Schöpf), Omic (66. Agyemang), Ullmann - Gattermayer (74. Pink), Ballo (87. Sabitzer)
Storm: Scherpen - Malic, Aiwu, Wüthrich, Lavalee (46. Karic) - Gorenc Stankovic, Kiteishvili - Yalcouye, Böving (46. Horvat) - Jatta, Grgic (62. Camara)