Two late goals in Altach lead to a bitter defeat

Three days after playing in the heat of Larnaca, our team took on SCR Altach in Vorarlberg on Sunday. Kitted out in our founding colours of blue and red, head coach Didi Kühbauer gave our team a new look by starting the match with a 3-5-2 formation. It only took until the third minute before our team enjoyed the first good opportunity, but Thorsten Schick acted perhaps too unselfishly against his former club, and instead of looking for the finish from a good position, his final pass went to the hosts.

In the 9th minute, Jonas Auer had a go from distance on his debut as a starter, but the shot was no problem for goalie Tino Casali. Less than 60 seconds later, Taxiarchis Fountas was wonderfully played in by Christoph Knasmüllner, but his effort on goal was unfortunately blocked. Nevertheless, it was a good start for our team. In the stands, only the travelling band of Rapid fans were really contributing to a great atmosphere; on the pitch Maximilian Hofmann & Co. had everything under control in the opening phase. In temperatures of around 30 degrees (thankfully a little “cooler” than in Cyprus at least), not much else happened before the first drinks-break in the 22nd minute, only an Ercan Kara shot was worthy of note, although that didn’t pose Altach too many problems in all honesty.

From then on in the first half, the hosts sat back even further and let our team take over. In the 27th minute we thought we had found our opener; after a fantastic cross by Leo Greiml, Taxi Fountas scored at the second attempt, yet VAR had to have a look, and in the already infamous cellar in Meidling a narrow offside call was made, so it stayed 0-0! In the 38th minute Richard Strebinger had to intervene for the first time, and he was able to clear a dangerous pass from Sandi Krizman to Dominik Reiter with a good save. Two minutes later there was a real scare, after a corner ex-Rapidler Adthe Nuhiu had a free header, but luckily he put the ball well off target. The tall striker (who scored thirteen times for Rapid between 2010 & 2012) then created danger again a minute before the break, but his shot was deflected away by Leo Greiml. After a deflected shot from another ex-Rapid player, Manuel Thurnwald, Sandi Krizman tried to finish with an overhead kick, but the crossbar saved our team from falling undeservedly behind! In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Nuhiu again had a good chance from a corner kick, but he was well pressed by Leo Greiml and it came to nothing. After exactly 50 minutes and two seconds, referee Alan Kijas finally called for the half-time break. Rapid had dominated until the disallowed goal, but Altach had created plenty since then, meaning neither side could be too unhappy with 0-0 as the teams headed to the changing rooms.

Führung, scheinbar sicherer Sieg, am Ende aber ganz bittere Niederlage

Ercan Kara, a starter in all nine games so far this season, was replaced at the break, but the first shot on goal, however, came again via Taxi Fountas, although his attempt was blocked for a corner in the 49th minute. After that, little happened in the danger areas for about ten minutes in the oppressive heat, but in the 59th minute there was reason to cheer for the 500 or so Rapid fans who had come along for a day out in Vorarlberg. After a foul on Marco Grüll, the Pongau-born player converted the free kick himself with a well-placed shot into the corner to put Rapid ahead, incidentally with the support of the Altach wall, which opened up to leave a nice gap! Until the Rapid quarter-hour there was no action worth mentioning on either side, Srdjan Grahovac had to receive treatment after a collision, but luckily he could continue. Captain Maximilan Hofmann had to be brought back to his feet inside the final 15 minutes, but he was only knocked down briefly after a body check from Adthe Nuhiu, schooled in the physical football of the English Championship.

Danger then came in the 80th minute! Shortly before Kitagawa and Arase were brought on for Fountas and Schick, the home side came up with a dangerous finish, but Leo Greiml bravely threw himself at the ball and cleared it for a corner. Then, out of nowhere, an equaliser came in the 82nd minute. Somehow, substitute Daniel Nussbaumer was left open near the edge of the box, and his shot crashed into corner of the net, it was unstoppable for Richard Strebinger in goal. Again the VAR office had a look, but this time it was narrowly given in favour of the attacking team, and therefore the goal stood. It got even worse from the Green and White perspective though. In the last minute of normal time, referee Alan Kijas called a handball by Christoph Knasmüllner, and ex-Rapid man Nuhiu of all people took the penalty in the 91st minute.

The much-needed equaliser was still possible though, in the 92nd minute Koya Kitagawa had a double chance, but a wall of Altach defenders was able to block each time. Even Richard Strebinger popping up in the opponent's penalty area couldn’t change anything about the bitter defeat, as a free kick in the 96th minute did not bring us a precious equaliser. In the end, all that remained was bitter disappointment after a performance which somehow resulted in an undeserved loss away in Altach.

 Fotos: GEPA