One Step Closer To The Championship Round

Barely three weeks after our dramatic extra time win away in Wolfsberg in the ÖFB Cup Quarter-final, the two teams met again at the Lavanttal Arena on Sunday, for Match Day 19 of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga season.

There were two bits of bad news for the Green & Whites - who again played in the club’s founding colours, wearing the blue and red away jersey - as attackers Marco Grüll (5 yellow cards) and last weekend’s goal-scoring hero Oliver Strunz (muscular problems) missed out on the match day squad. Instead, Berni Zimmermann started up front for the first time under head coach Zoran Barišić, aiming to add to his record of scoring half of his 10 Bundesliga goals in the state of Carinthia (3 against Klagenfurt & 2 against WAC)! After a 3-0 win in the Carinthian derby last time out, Robin Dutt left his line up unchanged, with the in-form Tai Baribo up top. Around 1,000 hardy Rapid fans made the journey down to Wolfsberg to help fire up the team, as the game got going in windy, wintry weather.

The first shot on target in a high-tempo start to the game came from the home side, but Niki Hedl was unchallenged by Maurice Malone’s fourth minute effort. Four minutes later Rapid had their first foray into the opposition area, but Zimmermann’s shot was blocked, and the follow up from distance came in from Roman Kerschbaum, but he didn’t get enough on it. For the next phase of the game, chances were hard to come by. Our team attempted some long balls for Guido Burgstaller, but a touch of precision was lacking, and the high winds didn’t make things any easier. The home side tried to push forward quickly where possible, but ultimately didn’t commit enough in attack to threaten often. Half way through the first period it was the away sector who had the first goal to celebrate! Burgstaller fired in a powerful shot from the left of the area which WAC keeper Hendrik Bonmann could only parry across the box, where Patrick Greil nipped in to steer the ball home for his first goal for the club! He had to wait a moment for a VAR check, but the marginal call of onside was the right one, and Rapid were in front (24’).

Ten minutes later that lead could have doubled; after a nicely worked move on the wing, Denso Kasius delivered a trademark dangerous cross, but this time Bonmann was able to produce an outstanding stop to deny Burgstaller from close range. It was a good spell for Rapid, and there were chances to almost put the game to bed before the break. Two minutes before the interval Berni Zimmermann burst into the box after an Ante Bajić pass, rode a few challenges and rolled the ball home for Rapid’s second, and this time, too, there was a close offside call to make for the referee. After another VAR check the next Rapid goal was confirmed, and Zimmermann had his first goal as a starter this season, as well as Bajić adding to his two lovely cup goals at the Lavanttal Arena from not long ago with an assist. Rapid therefore went in at the break with a well-deserved 2-0 lead.

It was Ante Bajić who had the first effort of the second half in the 47th minute, but alas it was off target, and the assistant referee's flag went up anyway. What followed was a period of pressure from the home side, which culminated in the 53rd minute with a goal back from Tai Baribo, who flicked the ball in past Hedl after a cross from the left from substitute Thorsten Röcher. After that, rather than falling back, our team became more active in attack again, but there were no big chances for the time being. The first Rapid substitution came after 67 minutes, as Patrick Greil - who took a knock but was able to soon confirm that it was nothing serious - was replaced by Christoph Knasmüllner. With the Rapid quarter-hour approaching, some good work from Knasmüllner teed up Burgstaller in the box, but his shot was cleared for a corner kick. Zoki Barišić then brought on Martin Moormann for the active Bernhard Zimmermann, with Jonas Auer moving up to midfield in his place.

 The best chance to kill off the contest came after 87 minutes, as some good link-up play saw the ball come across goal for Moritz Oswald - who had just come on - but he miscued from close range and the lead remained at just the one goal. It wasn’t meant to be for Burgstaller either, as he missed from a good position in stoppage time, but when the final whistle came, it was to signal an end to a just victory for Rapid on the road. After bringing back three points to Hütteldorf, Rapid have moved a clear step closer to qualifying for the Championship Round. THAT’S THE WAY!