Championship Round Status - Secured!

Rapid created numerous chances to overwhelm a high-flying WSG side, but it took two late goals to ultimately seal the win, and with it, a precious place in the top six Championship Round.

After a battling effort against Salzburg which ultimately ended up with us leaving empty handed, the next ADMIRAL Bundesliga home game saw SK Rapid take on top six rivals WSG Tirol on Sunday. For the first time after a long injury lay-off, Dejan Petrovič replaced the suspended Aleksa Pejić in the starting lineup, Jonas Auer was also suspended, Martin Moormann filled in for him. In the build-up to the match, head coach Zoran Barišić had stressed that the Watteners should not be underestimated, even though our previous record against WSG was impressive. However, three points were required in order to secure a place in the Championship Group, so the target for the game was clear from the outset in Hütteldorf.

Despite the pressure of the occasion, it was the home team who started on the front foot. Top scorer Guido Burgstaller tested WSG keeper Ferdinand Oswald early on, his powerful left-footed strike from the edge of the area was parried for a corner kick, and Roman Kerschbaum’s resulting delivery also needed a smart save (8’). The Rapid number 9 also hit a shot just past the post two minutes later, before the game began to balance out for a little while. Denso Kasius sent in a great cross from the right after 26 minutes, but Burgstaller had the next moment in his running battle with the visiting keeper, as his volley was saved. Patrick Greil was picked out in the box four minutes later, and although he was closed down, he got the ball to Burgstaller, who slotted it just wide. The momentum stayed with the Green & Whites for the rest of the half, as Marco Grüll’s set-piece was nodded down to the back post by - you guessed it - Guido Burgstaller, only to draw a stunning save from keeper Oswald, before VAR ruled the resulting play dead anyway (36’). Two more chances came our way when Burgstaller had another header well stopped (44’) before Grüll fed Greil on the left, only to see the ball blasted over the crossbar from a decent position (45’) and the teams went in level at the interval.

The direction of play didn’t change in the second half, and almost from the restart a cross from Martin Moormann was turned on target by Dejan Petrovič, but that was blocked (46’) before Burgstaller could only head wide when well-placed near the far post (48’). After a textbook one-two between Moormann and Petrovič, the next finish was also off-target (52’), and as our shot count raced into double figures, it took WSG Tirol an hour to test Niki Hedl in the Rapid goal, as he simply caught a Kofi Schulz header. Oliver Strunz came on to liven up the attack just after that, and Rapid kept applying the pressure, this time it was Marco Grüll again who smashed a thunderous strike at goal, but it was beaten away to safety (70’). If raw power didn’t work, how about placement? Grüll passed across the area from the left four minutes later, and super-sub Strunz was able to stroke the ball home with a swing of his left foot, slotting it just out of the keeper’s reach and into the corner! 1-0 (74’) and a more than deserved opener for the home fans to enjoy!

 A double change followed, Ante Bajić and Moritz Oswald came in for Marco Grüll and Dejan Petrovič (75’), and Rapid’s chance creation would be rewarded in the end, as Moritz Oswald battled for the ball on the right, sending it forward into the path of Burgstaller (who was just onside), and he was able to smartly poke the ball low past the on-rushing keeper to double the advantage. 2-0 (86’)! The final big moment of the game came at the end of normal time, when Thorsten Schick made his comeback from injury, replacing Denso Kasius for stoppage time, but after five minutes more, the game was over, and the Green & Whites had secured their place in the top six, so we can all look forward to Championship Round football after next weekend’s away fixture in the Vienna Derby. WELL DONE TEAM!

Fotos: GEPA