On Thursday in front of 14,809 spectators in Liebenau, Styria suffered a 0-1 home defeat against Real Sociedad and thus came out of the field losing for the third time in the third match of this group stage. Alexander Isak scored the decisive goal after a mistake by goalkeeper Jörg Siebenhandl (68) in Graz. The guests showed from the start why they are currently at the top of the Spanish league standings. “La Real” let the ball run and the opponent and became dangerous for the first time in the fifth minute. After an unsuccessful defense from Siebenhandl, the ball landed on David Silva, but David Affengruber threw himself into the shot of the former world and European champion. Four minutes later, Siebenhandl was there when Isak had a good chance.
After that, the home team slowly found their place in the game, with fighting spirit and passion, the playful inferiority was at least compensated in phases. The early muscle injury of Alexander Prass, who was replaced by the last sick Stefan Hierländer (38th), did not change anything. The most dangerous team remained Real Sociedad, around seconds before the break when Silva shot far over the goal with his weaker right foot from a promising position after Isak’s preparatory work.
Before the break, Sturm only registered a harmless header from Gregory Wüthrich (32nd) and was lucky twice not to fall behind immediately after the restart. In the 48th minute Mikel Merino extended a free kick from Adnan Januzaj at the bar, four minutes later Siebenhandl tamed a shot from Aihen Munoz with great difficulty.
In the 68th minute, the goalkeeper made a serious mistake. Isak moved away, his shot deflected slightly by Affengruber and rolled into the net between the goalkeeper’s legs. To make matters worse, Jusuf Gazibegovic injured himself in the situation that led to the goal.
Sturm once again mobilized all his strength to equalize, but more than one shot from Hierländer exactly on Real Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro (75 ‘) was not careful. On the other side, Benat Turrientes hit the crossbar (95th). Graz’s side will have the opportunity to get their revenge on November 4, when they play the next round of the Europa League in San Sebastian. Jon Gorenc-Stankovic will be absent in this game – the midfielder saw a yellow-red in the 87th minute.
