Late Graz Goal Leaves Us Empty Handed

A game which could have gone either way ended on a sour note on Friday, as a stoppage time goal for Sturm Graz gave them a 1-0 win in the return of the Bundesliga.

After 88 long days without ADMIRAL Bundesliga action, SK Rapid restarted their 2022/23 league campaign with a very tricky trip to our old rivals SK Sturm Graz. Awaiting us in the Merkur Arena on Friday night was a Sturm side second in the table, and full of confidence having knocked Salzburg out of the cup in their last game. For our side the cup had also been a positive way to warm up, with a 3-1 away win in Wolfsberg seeing Rapid through to the semi-finals, and an Ante Bajic brace sealing the deal.

Against Sturm in Graz though, the recent record books didn’t favour the Green & Whites; our latest win over Sturm came back in January 2021, and the last three points for us at the Merkur Arena came courtesy of a 90th minute goal and a dramatic 3-2 triumph in June 2020. For this meeting, our young loanee Denso Karius was drafted into Zoran Barisic’s starting XI at right back, with top scorer Guido Burgstaller leading the line up front, and in the hunt for an 11th goal of the season.

Whilst the game got the Bundesliga ball rolling for the new year, it was soon paused for a few minutes to allow smoke to clear from the flares of excited fans. Not long later, the first big chance for the opening goal went the way of the hosts, but fortunately Albian Ajeti prodded the ball wide from close range (4’). Rapid - wearing the founding colours of Red & Blue - responded well, and Roman Kerschbaum had a powerful shot blocked just seconds later (5’) before the game settled down somewhat.

Denso Kasius was making the most of his start by marauding down the right flank frequently, an he unleashed a dipping shot from range which Sturm keeper Okonkwo struggled to hold, but eventually gathered (11’). Rapid continued to look good in the game, and the next chance also went our way, as a through pass from the right was allowed to slip into the path of Marco Grüll, but his shot from the edge of the box came back unluckily off the body of Burgstaller, who tried to get out of the way (22’).

Just as we were causing Sturm plenty of issues, they had the ball in the back of the net to the delight of their fans. A decent shot from Tomi Horvat found the bottom corner, but there was an offside player preventing Niki Hedl from getting a good look at the ball, so after a VAR check the goal was ruled out.

Rapid remained undeterred and played on the front foot, and when the ball was won back high up the field following pressure on the Sturm back line, Patrick Greil found himself in a promising position in the box, but ultimately chose the wrong option in passing the ball across the area instead of going it alone (39’). With that, the two teams headed into the warmth of the changing rooms, the scores level at 0-0.

With the starting XIs remaining unchanged for the second half, the even game full of individual duels continued, but Rapid would have the first chance to break away and play the ball into space. A promising 3-on-2 situation on the counter saw the ball eventually prised away from Kasius who was in an advanced position (54’). At the other end, Niki Hedl excelled with a world class stop to prevent a powerful deflected shot from going in, his stunning reflex save tipped the ball over the top instead (59’).

As Sturm began to look like the team on top, there was still a chance for Rapid thanks to Burgstaller setting up Ante Bajic, who could only shoot wide (64’). Sturm then made several changes, and our players managed to see out a phase of pressure without conceding. Our first switch came after 72 minutes, when Oliver Strunz replaced Patrick Greil, but we still had to deal with a home team who were going for the win. For our side, Kasius again produced a good shot from outside the box which hime keeper Okonkwo could not gather easily, but the threat was eventually contained (85’).

As the game headed into stoppage time and a goalless draw beckoned, the hosts took a free kick from the right byline, and David Affengruber got up to glance a header in to the net from close range (90’+1). Rapid had the ball back in front of the Sturm goal just seconds later, but it didn’t fall to a Red & Blue shirt, and there was no more time to create other chances. It was a cruel end to the game, as we left the pitch as the losing team despite a battling performance. Both teams finished with 10 shots each, but Sturm took the points. For Rapid, there were positives to take, and the team will look to add a touch of coolness in the final third as we look ahead to our first home game of 2023, against SCR Altach on Sunday, February 19th.

Fotos: GEPA