Rapid Fall Short in Favoriten

Rapid ended up on the losing side of Sunday’s derby, after a goal in each half gave Austria the win. The Green & Whites created a host of chances after the break, but they could not make them count, and will have to look forward to making amends in the next two derbies which will now take place this season.

Rapid may have secured their precious place in the top six of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga with one game to spare, but heading in to Sunday’s 338th Vienna Derby, there was still a lot to play for! Firstly, our city rivals had come out on top in the last meeting, and before that there were seven-straight draws, so the Green & Whites were more than motivated to win a first derby fixture since September 2019, when Rapid ran out 3-1 winners in Favoriten. Whilst our aim was to close in on the top three in the table, Austria still needed a result to guarantee a place in the Championship Round, so ideally, our side would be able to play with a little less pressure, if that’s ever possible in a Vienna Derby!

With Ferdy Druijf and Nicolas Kühn still not fit, plus Roman Kerschbaum suspended, Head Coach Zoran Barisic started with Dejan Petrovic and Aleksa Pejic in the midfield, with top scorer Guido Burgstaller leading the line on his own. After a rousing introduction in front of a sell-out crowd and a packed corner full of Green & White away support, the opening minutes saw neither side create any chances to get on the ball in dangerous areas. After 15 minutes, Burgstaller had the first sight of goal when he cut back from the left, but dragged a low shot towards the front post for a routine save. At the other end Niki Hedl had to make a more spectacular stop, as he flew to his left to parry a Matthias Braunöder volley away from the top corner (22’) but on the whole, chances were still hard to come by in a tight game.

The hosts floated a long cross over from the right five minutes before the break, where Denso Kasius tried to see it out of play safely, however it was hooked back across the area just before crossing the line, and Haris Tabakovic mis-kicked his finish, but saw it bounce right into the corner and away from the outstretched arms of Hedl in goal (40’). There was an immediate response as a long cross from Patrick Greil forced the home keeper to tip the ball away (42’), before Kasius also fired in a delivery from the right which might have ended up in the net had Christian Früchtl not reacted quickly (45’), but overall Rapid didn’t create enough to level before the half time whistle.

After the restart, Burgstaller blasted a volley wide of the near post with an early half-chance (48’), before Kasius did well to get down to the byline and cut the ball back across the box from the right (50’). It was tipped into a dangerous area, but nobody in Green & White could turn it home. The resurgence continued as Marco Grüll was played in as he ran into the box, he controlled the ball but just failed in his attempt to knock it past the Austria keeper (49’). The momentum would soon come to a grinding halt though, as a defensive mix-up allowed Doron Leidner space to score with a low shot against the run of play to put us two goals behind (51’).

Grüll fired a swerving free-kick on target from distance soon after as Rapid attempted to fight their way back into the tie immediately, and the first changes were intended to help the cause. Ante Bajic was replaced by Oliver Strunz (57’), before Petrovic and Kasius came off for Berni Zimmermann and Thorsten Schick (66’). Grüll sent a ball to the left of the box from Greil, who saw his cross flash past the far post with nobody quite able to reach it (78’), and a Jonas Auer cross was crashed onto the crossbar by the head of Burgstaller (79’) as the guests refused to give up. The number 9 then twisted and turned in the penalty area before teeing up a cross for Strunz which he could only head wide from a good position (89’), and it just was not meant to be for Rapid on the day. Despite the defeat, our place in the Championship Round was secure, and we’ll be out to avenge this defeat as we look forward to two more Vienna Derbies this season. We can go into the international break, recuperate, and get ready for a strong finish to the season, and a push for the European places. 

Pictures: GEPA