GAK celebrates breakthrough: "We left everything on the pitch"

On the sixth matchday of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga, GAK celebrates an important breakthrough.

Graz secured a 2-1 victory against SCR Altach, earning their first Bundesliga win under new coach Gerald Scheiblehner (to the match report>>>).

The "Rotjacken" (Red Jackets) were particularly clinical in converting their chances: Altach had an xGoals value of 1.27, while GAK only had 0.33. Nevertheless, thanks to their efficiency and passionate defensive work, the visitors took home three points.

"Phenomenal Team Performance"

Scheiblehner was naturally pleased after his first victory as GAK head coach. "I believe we delivered a phenomenal team performance today," said the 49-year-old in a "Sky" interview.

GAK also had to cope with two short-notice absences. Jacob Italiano and Leon Klassen were unavailable due to illness. "We compensated for that brilliantly, gave it our all, and today I am truly proud of the team's energy," Scheiblehner stated.

Alexander Hofleitner, who scored the decisive goal to make it 2-1 just before halftime, also highlighted the fighting performance. "It was an extremely intense game; I'm still out of breath, but it feels incredibly good," said the 26-year-old.

GAK Passionately Defends Victory

Especially in the final phase, Graz had to withstand considerable pressure from the hosts. However, despite their superiority in play, Altach could no longer find a way to equalize.

"I think you could simply see how much we wanted to win; we left everything on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes," said GAK goalscorer Yannick Oberleitner.

The center-back headed in the opening goal in just the sixth minute, scoring his second goal after also finding the net against Kitzbühel in the Cup, just like Hofleitner. For him, however, the defensive performance was particularly crucial: "We defended very well; we conceded one goal, but we scored two, so that's enough."

"One for the Other"

New signing Christopher Cvetko, who played his first league game for GAK against Altach, also spoke of a special team performance.

"One after another dropped out, due to illness, due to injury. But that didn't really matter to us at all. We knew that each of us has the quality to play on the weekend," explained the 29-year-old.

The team worked "one for the other across the entire pitch." For Cvetko, his debut was certainly worthwhile: "That's how I imagined it."

For GAK, the victory is also an important step in the league table. With seven points now, Graz temporarily jumps to sixth place. "We simply want to look up, not down," Scheiblehner stated, setting the direction.