Ried Remains an Unhappy Hunting Ground for Rapid
Despite creating numerous good chances, Rapid found a goalkeeper in inspired form in the SV Ried goal. With VAR calls going against our team left, right and centre, a penalty gave the hosts a lead that they would ultimately cling on to over 96 minutes on Saturday.
Following a very disappointing result in last weekend’s derby, Rapid travelled to Upper Austria to take on SV Ried. Whilst the Innviertlers went into the game bottom of the Bundesliga, they had won their last match away against WAC, and could also boast a proud home record against Rapid which included winning four of the last five fixtures at the Josko Arena. The last time the Hütteldorfers came away from here victorious was back in 2015, when Matej Jelic’s 90th minute goal gave us all three points. The latest meeting between the teams at this atmospheric venue was in November 2021, and again we required a late goal, as Christoph Knasmüllner’s 84th minute effort rescued a point. In short, nobody was expecting an easy ride on Saturday.
Head Coach Ferdinand Feldhofer welcomed back Maximilian Hofmann as captain, and with Nic Kühn unfortunately still injured, Thorsten Schick was part of the starting XI. After getting his first league goal for Rapid last week, ex-Ried man Ante Bajic was also in the line-up, behind forwards Ferdy Druijf and Bernhard Zimmermann. Backed by a corner full of away fans in Green & White, our team (in their Red & Blue away shirts) looked to start on the front foot, but the initial phase of the game was purely a midfield battle. A long ball forward aimed to pick out Zimmermann in the box, but the keeper was there first (11’). Marco Grüll lashed a shot towards goal soon after (13’); it may have been blocked, but the game was beginning to come to life.
Ante Bajic almost took advantage of a spill from his former teammate in the Ried goal (14’), as Rapid gradually established early authority, but it took until the 27th minute for the next shot, Bajic firing into the side netting from a tight angle on that occasion. The first moment of real quality came just after the half-hour mark, as Druijf’s clever backheel set Schick away on the right-hand side of the area, he pulled it back for the advancing run of Patrick Greil, whose shot slammed against the near post and away (31’). Berni Zimmermann arguably went even closer with the next Rapid chance, but his header drew a brilliant save from the home keeper who tipped it over the bar (34’). The boys in Blue & Red were now thoroughly on top, and all that was missing was the opening goal. As smoke from the home fans filled the Ried penalty area, play had to be briefly stopped (38’), and the away team were by now camped in that box, yet no breakthrough was to come before referee Alexander Harkam signalled an end to the first half, despite one final scramble involving Druijf and Zimmermann.
The team gave it everything at the Josko Arena, but just could not find the back of the net.
There was a lot of promise to build on after the break, but the restart went anything but the way we wanted it to. Referee Harkam had to check his monitor to decide whether Hofmann had fouled Stefan Nutz beneath a falling high ball, and after some deliberation, the home team had a penalty (48’). Christoph Monschein converted to give Ried a scarcely deserved lead (50’). The perfect response so nearly came, as Ferdy Druijf got the ball in the six-yard box, only to be denied by another tremendous save from the Ried stopper at point blank range (54’). With 20 minutes to play, Guido Burgstaller came on for Berni Zimmermann, but already Rapid were beginning to rue the missed chances, and they needed to find another gear to get back on level terms quickly.
Moments after coming on, Burgstaller appeared to be shoved to ground in the box, but for the second time in a few minutes, the referee decided against a Rapid penalty. Ten minutes were left on the clock when Burgstaller rose highest, but glanced his header across goal and just wide. Dragoljub Savic came on in the closing stages, and with Ried offering nothing in attack, it was just a case of whether the guests could break down a stubborn home defence. With nothing going our way, yet another VAR check went against us, as minutes after the action happened, Leo Querfeld was pulled up for an accidental handball resulting in a red card (88’). Six minutes of stoppage time were added on, and we needed something special. Martin Moormann had a go at producing magic from way out, and his shot was arrowed at goal: it forced another top save from the Ried keeper, but on the day he just would not be beaten, and Ried withstood the pressure to take the home win. Tellingly, the home keeper was the man of the match.
It’s another tough result to take, as we racked up 25 shots and had an expected goals tally of more than 2.0, but when the chances just won’t go in, it’s very, very hard to succeed. It’s back to the drawing board now as we look towards the ÖFB Cup, and an away game against WSG Tirol in Wattens on Tuesday evening.
Fotos: GEPA
