2023-10-05 20:57:02
Sturm Graz won the groundbreaking first Europa League duel with Polish champions Rakow Czestochowa 1-0 (1-0). Austria’s soccer runner-up scored points for the first time in the second group game. William Böving (24th) scored the golden goal for Graz, who celebrated their first away win in a Europa League group stage since Athens 2011. In the parallel game, Atalanta also won at Sporting (2-1) and leads Group D three points ahead of Sturm.
After the narrow 1:2 home defeat against Lisbon, Sturm traveled to Poland for a duel “on equal terms”. Rakow lost 2-0 at the start in Bergamo. Coach Christian Ilzer tackled the task, which also had the motto “no losing”, with a starting eleven without any surprises. With the exception of Manprit Sarkaria, who was recently injured, the team started from the first group game. The Polish attacker Szymon Wlodarczyk started his “home game” alongside Böving, who continues to be Sturm’s man for the international highlights.
As he did two weeks ago against Sporting, the Dane was spot on and used a rebound from Dante’s cross with a low shot into the far corner (24′). Böving scored four of the last five European Storm goals. The Graz team had the reins in their hands from the start, but with their concentrated performance until they took the lead, they didn’t find any clear opportunities to score.
Rakow couldn’t cope with the intensity of Graz. The Polish fans applauded in the decently attended sports park in Sosnowiec – Rakow’s home stadium does not meet the UEFA criteria – a team that rarely got close to the penalty area. The guests were different: After a fine combination, Stefan Hierländer had a clear shot, but not the processing quality of Böving (37th), in stoppage time in the first half, Gregory Wüthrich was only centimeters away with a shot from 25 meters.
After the break, Sturm created a firework of opportunities, but didn’t capitalize on it. A Wlodarczyk header was too central after a Gazibegovic cross (52′), then Böving shot over it while falling after artistic preparatory work by Alexander Prass (54′). Goalie Vladan Kovacevic was still there when Otar Kiteishvili hit the crossbar (58th) as well as Prass’ direct shot (66th). While the Styrians only lacked effectiveness at the front, they also lacked consistency at the back in this phase. Srdan Plavsic (54th) and Fran Tudor (56th) did not accept the gifts on the bumpy grass.
Given the narrow lead, Ilzer tried to make the decision with the three offensive jokers Sarkaria, Seedy Jatta and Bryan Teixeira. Because the counterattacks continued to be inadequate, the game was on a knife’s edge until the end. Against harmless Poland, Kjell Scherpen had a quiet and ultimately successful evening in the storm goal until the end.
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