Sturm Graz 2-3 NK Celje. Celje claimed their first Europa League win of the season in a five-goal thriller at the Merkur Arena, as Svit Seslar scored twice to sink a Sturm Graz side who had 24 shots and still lost, Oumar Diakite's stoppage-time goal proving only a consolation.
How do you have 24 shots, win 12 corners — and lose? Sturm Graz found out the painful way. The Austrians threw everything at Celje and finished with two goals from Oumar Diakite, yet were beaten by a Slovenian side who were clinical with every chance that mattered, Seslar the outstanding player on the pitch. The full match record is on Sportradar's match page.
Seslar runs the show in Graz
Celje struck first through Svit Seslar on 29 minutes, only for Diakite — set up by Paul Koller — to equalise for Sturm on 40 minutes. The hosts barely had time to settle before they were behind again: Benjamin Verbic, assisted by Milot Avdyli, restored Celje's lead on the stroke of half-time to send the visitors in 2-1 ahead. It was a half that summed up the night — Sturm with the territory and the volume, Celje with the cutting edge.
The second half followed the same pattern at higher intensity. Sturm poured forward, the corner count climbing into double figures, but the equaliser would not come. Instead it was Celje who struck next, and it was Seslar again: the Slovenian playmaker made it 3-1 on 73 minutes, finishing from Blaz Kramer's assist for his second goal of the night. At that point, with Sturm's mountain now two goals high and time running out, the contest looked over.
Diakite's late strike is not enough
Sturm refused to accept it. They kept coming, kept loading the box, and deep in stoppage time — 90+3 — Diakite scored his second of the night, created by Gizo Mamageishvili, to make it 3-2 and set up a frantic final few seconds. But there was no time for a third, and Celje held on for a famous away win. In truth the scoreline punished Sturm's wastefulness: five goals shared, three points for the visitors, and a Merkur Arena crowd left wondering how their side lost a game they dominated on every metric except the one that counts. Ruthlessness beat volume elsewhere too — Bournemouth's substitutes completed a comeback win at Sparta Praha on a night of fine European margins.
Seslar deserves the spotlight. The Slovenian was the calmest player in a chaotic game: taking his first goal with the composure of a striker, then, with Sturm pressing and the Merkur Arena roaring for an equaliser, producing the second that pushed the game beyond the hosts. In a match where Sturm created chance after chance, it was Celje's No. 10 who showed them how finishing is done — two chances that mattered, two goals. Performances like that travel: scouts across Europe will have noted the name.
So what does this mean for Sturm Graz and Celje?
For Celje, a first Europa League win of the season, away from home, in a five-goal classic, is the kind of result that transforms a campaign. Seslar's brace announced him on the European stage, and three points in Graz keeps their play-off hopes genuinely alive. For Sturm, the autopsy is simple and brutal: 24 shots and 12 corners must produce more than two goals, and a defence that conceded three times to a side that barely attacked has questions to answer. Their attacking volume is not the problem — their finishing is. Lose games like this and the league phase passes you by.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Seslar was the best player on the pitch and the decisive one — his brace won a game Sturm dominated on paper and lost on the scoreboard. Celje's first win of the season could not have been more dramatic. Was this the game of the Europa League season so far? Let us know in the comments.
