RBS women beaten by strong Graz side 0-2 defeat in battle of previously flawless teams SK Sturm Graz 2-0 FC Red Bull Salzburg Women (H/T:1-0). Goals: Breznik (31'), Sipos (65') Our girls travelled to Styria with a perfect record, but this time they couldn't add to their points tally. Today, our team lacked a bit of attacking bite, and two lapses in concentration at the back led to goals against us. We therfore suffered a 0-2 defeat in the ADMIRAL Women's Bundesliga match against SK Sturm Graz. Match summary This clash of two championship group teams from last season started with Sturm Graz having more chances, although clear-cut opportunities were initially scarce. Pulins headed over after four minutes – one of a handful of half-chances resulting from set pieces. Our team struggled to create decisive chances in attack. When they did, the rules got in the way: as a Triendl goal was disallowed for offside. Instead, Sturm celebrated - they broke through on the left, and following a poorly executed clearance, Breznik gained the ball. She turned to celebrate after a shot from the left side of the box (31'). The score remained 0-1 at the break, partly because Krumböck failed to capitalise on a good series of passes from the hosts.
Dusan Pavlovic's team returned after the restart with renewed determination – however, the balance of play remained largely unchanged. Pulins tried her luck from distance, and referee Telek also noticed that Sipos, last season's top scorer, had already taken the ball out of bounds before what would otherwise have been a goal. Ten minutes later, it came. Sipos lurked near the edge of the penalty area, received the ball, and expertly took control to make it 0-2 (65'). Magdalena Schwarz revitalised our attacking efforts, setting up her team-mate, Triendl, whose header narrowly missed the target. Ultimately, however, there was no noticeable late surge, meaning we have to make the journey home from Graz empty-handed.
Views Sturm Graz were the better team, and they deserved to win – congratulations to them. We lacked conviction in certain situations today, for example, in our play off the ball, where we were really challenged – and then we had to run more without gaining control. That hurts, of course, against such a strong team from Graz. There were also a few positives we can take away from the game. Now it's time to keep our chins up and focus on Austria Vienna. Dusan Pavlovic Line-ups & substitutions SK Sturm Graz: Dübel – Großgasteiger, Riedler, Tragl (81. Krejcova) – Spieß (63. Keutz), Maierhofer ©, Pavlovic (81. Krajinovic), Krumböck, Sipos – Pulins, Breznik (88. Kaiser) FC Red Bull Salzburg Women: Guha – Illinger, Hamzic, Schirmbrand, L. Spinn – D'Angelo (46. Schwarz), Plattner, Grünwald (46. Talwieser), Pamminger (46. Kobler) – Wienerroither © (63. Lutz), Triendl (89. Rausch) Yellow cards: Coach Djakovic (79./Dissent), Pulins (85./Unsporting behaviour) - Talwieser (50./Foul), Hamzic (85./Unsporting behaviour) Attendance: 350 Referee: Sara Telek Our partners in women's football