"Didn't show full performance": Sturm rues defeat

The "Cherries" – "die Kirschen" in German – were out of reach for the Graz side this evening in Southern England. SK Sturm had to admit defeat to AFC Bournemouth with a 3:0 score (to the match report>>>).

Sluggish Start

"It was a privilege for us to play here, but of course, we wanted to take something tangible with us," a contrite Arjan Malic grits his teeth after the game.

The difference in quality between SK Sturm and the most valuable team in the Europa League was clearly visible, especially at the beginning.

"I feel that we didn't show our full performance at the start," says Malic, who also acknowledges that they recovered afterwards.

Heil: "We didn't play against any pushovers"

It was precisely in this phase that the favourite took the lead with a goal from Evanilson (43'). "A really good header, I wondered: 'When will that finally come down?'" Jürgen Heil says, annoyed.

However, the veteran is also aware of the opponent's quality: "We didn't play against any pushovers."

It was also Heil who had the best chance to equalize but only hit the post with his shot (62')!

"The ball slips through, I rewarded myself for the 60-meter sprint and then you take it with the first touch. (...) I hit it really well too, it's just bad luck that it hit the post," Heil laments.

Set pieces as a decisive factor

Approximately fifteen minutes later, Rayan sealed the deal after a corner and a botched Khudyakov save (76').

Bournemouth's strength from set pieces was their biggest weapon this evening, as Sturm coach Fabio Ingolitsch also knows: "Every ball into our box felt like a bomb."

Thus, it was once again a corner that led to the decisive penalty against Sturm and to Bournemouth's 3:0 (90'+3).

From the Sturm coach's perspective, the score was too high: "If you look at the result and see what we accomplished, it doesn't add up."

Even though the result hurts, Ingolitsch can draw positives from the match against the team of "his role model" Marco Rose.

Sturm highly motivated before derby: "Want to show that Graz is Black-White"

However, the "Blackies" won't have much time to be annoyed either way. Already this coming Sunday (from 5:00 PM in the LIVE ticker>>>), the next big highlight awaits with the Graz derby.

After the final whistle in Southern England, the Sturm fans already gave their team a motivational boost for "the most important game of the season," as Arjan Malic puts it.

No extra motivation is needed after that, says Jürgen Heil, for whom it is his first derby as a Sturm player: "Anyone who still needs extra motivation now is out of place."

Sturm wants to show "that Graz is and remains Black-White," says Fabio Ingolitsch, who knows that he and his team bear a great and important responsibility in this regard.

Unlike in Bournemouth, Sturm is the favourite here. However, a derby is known to have its own rules.