What Ingolitsch and Heil Say About the Penalty
The penalty in the third minute, in particular, caused discussions after the match: "For the first goal, we defended poorly, and then there's that tug. Is it a foul for me? No. Especially in the third minute, in a game like this," said the head coach.
And what does Heil himself say about the situation? "I didn't defend well. Still, I don't think it was a penalty. It felt like he tripped over his own feet. It says it all when the penalty is checked for minutes. But I can't change it."
Lacking Offensive Power
The truth is, however, that Sturm once again lacked offensive penetration, with the exception of Belmin Beganovic's goal.
The "Blackies" had three more shots than Rapid overall (19:16). However, the quality of shots clearly favored the hosts (xGoals: 2.01:0.72).
In the second half, Sturm was significantly better in the game, but clear scoring chances for a turnaround were missing. The Rapid players scored again through substitute Petter Nosa Dahl in the final phase (86th minute), before Albert Vallci was sent off after a professional foul (90th minute).
Sturm struggled for long stretches on Sunday evening and made too many individual errors. Thus, there was nothing to gain in Hütteldorf.
Praise for Rapid
Nevertheless, Ingolitsch was not entirely dissatisfied with the performance: "We didn't let Rapid get into the game the way they wanted. They had to play many long balls, which is not their style. That's a sign that they had to deviate from their plan. In the end, Rapid didn't beat us; we beat ourselves."
Praise for Rapid's performance came from right-back Heil: "It wasn't just any opponent today. Rapid has dominated every opponent so far. But it was a wake-up call that we still have a lot of work ahead of us."
Much work is undoubtedly ahead. Excluding their European Cup appearances, Sturm has not yet managed to reach their performance peak this Bundesliga season.
Debut of New Signings
Victories against Hartberg and Altach are juxtaposed with draws against Lustenau and Tirol, and now a defeat against Rapid. Especially in the last three games, the "Blackies" revealed the well-known problems in creating chances.
Positive aspects against Rapid, besides Beganovic's first goal of the season, were also the first appearances of Valmir Matoshi and Joshua Quarshie. The two new signings celebrated their debut for Sturm in the second half.
Ingolitsch also commented on the two new players after the final whistle: "Matoshi is very energetic, a box-to-box player. He brings everything with him. Quarshie hasn't had any match practice for a month, so we need to be careful. But you could already see the presence he brings. He will give a lot to our defense in the future."
Decisive Weeks Ahead
Exciting weeks await Sturm now. On Saturday, they head to Voitsberg for the cup, before both LASK (Sept 13) and Stade Rennes (Sept 16) come to Liebenau within three days.
The "tough week" will be rounded off with the away cracker in Salzburg (Sept 20). It will become clear at the latest in these matches where Sturm's journey is heading this year.
