Right Performance, Wrong Result vs WSG

After the incredible scenes of our home win against Fiorentina, the ADMIRAL Bundesliga was back on the Hütteldorf schedule on Sunday. In the 5th round, WSG Tirol were the guests at the Allianz Stadium. Due to the intense weeks, head coach Zoran Barišić opted for plenty of rotation, so compared to the last matchday, Martin Koscelník, Ante Bajić, Nicolas Kühn and Fally Mayulu (making his starting debut) played from the off. Guido Burgstaller also took a seat on the bench, so Maximilian Hofmann led our Green-Whites onto the field as captain. A look back shows that the Watteners had been a welcome opponent - in the 2022/23 season, our team won 5-0 against them at the Tivoli, and in Hütteldorf, Barišić’s squad was satisfied with a 2-0 home win. But this time it was not meant to be…

 Even in the opening phase, things didn’t go according to plan. Nic Kühn missed with his header after an accurate cross from Martin Koscelník (6’), before the ball landed in our goal after 8 minutes - thanks to an unstoppable long-range Luca Kronberger shot from around 35 meters which flew into the top corner to give WSG the lead (8’). The shock was deep-seated, but our team started to play again, and a header from Leo Querfeld went close (10’). Nic Kühn also made a good impression on the flank, but in the end Ante Bajić just missed the target, having received the cross (15’). In the next moment, Leo Querfeld had another go with a header from a corner, but it was into the hands of the keeper (18’). Nic Kühn, who was set up by Matthias Seidl, was dangerous again, but his shot to the near post was blocked at the last moment (25’). The resulting corner was taken by Roman Kerschbaum and it almost drifted directly in, but in the end a few centimeters were missing for the goal (26’). The game was now characterised by a back and forth battle, but our Green & Whites were always looking for the way through in front of goal - such as when Ante Bajić had a go after a dream cross from Nic Kühn to Matthias Seidl, but in the end the shot was too inaccurate to count as a dangerous scoring opportunity (39’). Nevertheless, the opportunities were there in the first half, but in terms of goals, it was just the one from the visitors, so we trailed at the break.

Oliver Strunz and Moritz Oswald came on for Fally Mayulu and Martin Koscelník at the restart (46’). Offensively, it continued similarly to the first 45 minutes, with numerous chances. The biggest opportunity on our side so far was then with Leo Querfeld and Oli Strunz, our number 43 headed first onto the crossbar, the second ball was fired on goal by our number 7, but the goalkeeper was back in position in time (51’). The chances fell now almost every minute, Matthias Seidl had a go twice, but the ball was simply not finding its way into the back of the net (54’). Captain Maximilian Hofmann also had a chance with a header, but again the Tyrolean stopper was on the end of it (58’). After an hour, it was finally time: Moritz Oswald played a long ball to Ante Bajić, who passed into the middle for Matthias Seidl and our number 18 lifted the ball skillfully and sank a volley into the bottom corner to equalise, 1-1 (60’)!

We continued with another dream combination, in which Ante Bajić could hit only the aluminum. In turn, Niki Hedl held things level with an incredible save (74’). With the Rapid quarter-hour approaching fast, it was then Seidl again who almost found the right finish with an acrobatic side-footed volley, but just missed the contact (75’). For the final phase, Marco Grüll came on instead of Nic Kühn (79’), and our number 27 had a go from distance, but the shot was too easy to hold (80’). Zoki Barišić then wanted to bring on fresh forces with a double exchange, Martin Moormann and Guido Burgstaller came on for Maxi Hofmann and Ante Bajić (82’). A nice combination brought us dangerously in front of goal again, but once more, a WSG defender was quickly on the spot (87’). In injury time, there was also a curious scene when the ball was saved and looped up into a scramble on the goal line, and somehow with a tangle of legs, the ball stayed out - unbelievable (91’). So it was a heated final phase in which we could not reward ourselves with the winner, despite numerous chances over the 90 minutes.

This was ultimately the right performance, and the wrong result. Now we have to regenerate, clear our heads and attack fully on Thursday against Fiorentina. Keep going, Rapid!

 Fotos: GEPA