Late Wimmer Goal Earns a Point in Graz

The Sunday evening fixture on Round 20 of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga saw Rapid head to Styria to face Sturm Graz. After a strong showing in the UEFA Europa Conference League, we were on the hunt for precious points in the fight for the top six places, the Championship Group, in the league table. Head coach Ferdinand Feldhofer had to do without Paul Gartler, who had to take a break due to muscular problems, and Taxi Fountas, who was absent due to illness. For that reason, there was a very special professional debut: Almost exactly a quarter of a century after his father Raimund (who debuted on 25th March 1997), U21 team goalkeeper Niklas Hedl made his first competitive appearance in the Green and White goal. Sad news reached us on the morning of the game, a long-time and indispensable club service employee - Ivica Viskup - had passed away, and so our team played in memory of "Ivo".

Unfortunately, the opening phase was anything but according to plan. We moved the ball well in our own ranks, but in the 6th minute it was already in Hedl’s goal following Sturm’s very first attack, a break down the left and a low cross into the box for Hojlund. The shock of that early goal was severe, and our team tried hard to equalise, but we couldn’t find a way through the defence. That was, until the 35th minute. A corner kick routine let the Rapid fans breathe a sigh of relief: Jonas Auer played the ball accurately into the penalty area, Emanuel Aiwu rose up at the right moment and placed the header calmly into the net for the equaliser, 1-1! That important leveller brought us right back into the game, but there was no more action worth mentioning from either side until the referee blew for the interval. We went into the dressing rooms evenly matched, with the score at 1-1.

Our team started the second half unchanged and we pressed for the lead with pace and intensity. In the 51st minute, Kelvin Arase, who was making his 100th appearance in Green and White, tried to score with a shot towards the near post, but it was blocked at the last moment. In the 65th minute, Ferdinand Feldhofer brought fresh energy to the game with a double substitution, Yusuf Demir and Martin Moormann came on for Christoph Knasmüllner and Jonas Auer. The game heated up and only four minutes later, after a foul by substitute Moormann and some lengthy discussions, a penalty was awarded to Graz, which unfortunately ended up being converted by Jantscher: 2-1 (69’). Shortly before the Rapid quarter-hour, Koya Kitagawa came on for Kelvin Arase (73’). Ten minutes later it was again a set piece that brought us some success: After a corner kick from Demir, the ball eventually made its way towards Kevin Wimmer, who perfectly controlled with his chest and hammered a shot under the crossbar on the turn - there it was, the vital equaliser for 2-2, with his first goal for the club (83’)! With the next corner kick we almost scored a third goal, but Robert Ljubicic's header was just cleared on the line (85’). The final phase was definitely pointing in our direction, but unfortunately we didn't manage to score a winning goal.

Even though we didn't get the three points we had hoped for, it was a passionate and strong-willed performance by our team. Now, however, we have to mobilise all our strength to make it into the Championship Group in the last two games before the split. Prior to that, on Thursday, it's all about a place in the last 16 of the Europa Conference League - All Together Rapid!  

Fotos: GEPA