First Vienna ran out 4-0 winners against Sturm Graz II in the opening round of the Second League regular season on Saturday. The hosts had been searching for momentum after a mixed start to their campaign, and they carved them open with a series of clinical strikes that ended any hopes of a comeback early. By then it was already clear that this would not be the contest Sturm had hoped for.
B. Zimmermann opened the scoring in the twenty-second minute, giving Vienna the sort of boost they needed after a difficult July. M. Fillafer doubled the advantage just before the half-hour mark, and Sturm's coach made an immediate change with B. Luxbacher coming on. The visitors never really got going, and Vienna took them apart without too much fuss.
After the break, M. Winter added a third in the sixty-seventh minute, and the game was effectively over. C. Monschein then made it four in the seventy-ninth minute, and Sturm's yellow card for B. Pernot in the seventieth felt like a minor irritation in a match that had long since slipped away. Vienna controlled proceedings with ease, and Sturm had nothing to lose by then.
The statistics tell the story: Vienna enjoyed sixty-five percent possession, while Sturm managed just thirty-five. The hosts registered six shots on target and scored four times, whereas Sturm could only muster one shot on target throughout the entire match. It was a demonstration of control rather than chaos, and Vienna made the difference without breaking a sweat.
Vienna now sit third on ten points from five games, three wins and a draw sitting alongside one defeat. Sturm remain tenth on six points, two wins and three losses defining their early campaign. The result extends Vienna's positive trajectory while Sturm face questions about how to respond after another heavy defeat.