Grazer AK secured a 2-1 victory over Austria Lustenau in the Austrian Bundesliga's second round of the season on Saturday. The match, played at the Grazer AK stadium, ended with the hosts claiming all three points after a competitive ninety minutes. It was their first win of the campaign, moving them off the bottom of the table.
D. Pines gave Grazer the lead in the eighteenth minute, and to be fair, it was a composed finish from a well-worked chance. The visitors responded when D. Kacuri equalised just after the interval, the fifty-first minute seeing him slot home from close range. A. Hofleitner then turned the game with a goal in the sixtieth-sixth minute, and here's the thing — it came from a moment of individual quality rather than a set-piece routine.
There were six substitutions across the second half, with Grazer bringing on C. Lichtenberger and D. Weixelbraun in quick succession around the seventieth minute. The hosts also saw P. Michorl booked in the twenty-first minute, and by then the intensity was already building. Austria Lustenau picked up two yellows later, A. Verinac and E. Chukwu both receiving cautions in the closing stages.
The statistics tell a story of Grazer's dominance without necessarily translating into goals. They held 56 per cent possession and registered seventeen shots to their opponents' seven, though only six found the target. Austria Lustenau created no big chances despite having more attacks on total, and their goalkeeper had to make four saves while Grazer's keeper managed two. It was a match where Grazer played the second half a man up, but the visitors never truly looked in trouble.
The result leaves Grazer AK in tenth place with four points from five games, while Austria Lustenau remain eighteenth with five points. The hosts had come into this match following a heavy 3-0 defeat to LASK, so this win provides some relief. For Lustenau, it extends a run of just one victory in five matches, and they will need to find more cutting edge if they want to climb away from the relegation zone.