Mühevoller Cup-Aufstieg

Sandwiched between a competitive home draw against SK Sturm in the Bundesliga and next weekend’s away Derby in Favoriten, Rapid had a second round ÖFB Cup tie against Union Gurten on the fixture list, to be played at the former home of SV Ried, Stadion der Stadt Ried. Having sailed smoothly through Round 1 with a 7-0 win, Rapid were expecting a harder test on Wednesday evening against the Regionalliga Mitte side, but nonetheless, the aim was a comfortable win and safe passage to Round 3.

Zoran Barišić opted to make seven changes to the side that played so well against Sturm, clearly with the game against Austria Vienna in mind, so there were starts for Oliver Strunz, Lukas Grgic, Terence Kongolo, Fally Mayulu, Thierry Gale and others, with Ante Bajic also in the line-up against the team that he previously represented for a number of years.

With a large home crowd at their backs, Union Gurten showed several warning signs early on, as they sat back and struck well on the break time and again. Set-piece deliveries and crosses were also a danger for the hosts, and Leo Querfeld headed one such dangerous ball in only narrowly over the top of Niki Hedl’s goal (11’). A Gurten shot was wildly off-target soon after (14’) but they continued to read the play well, and so it was a relief when Rapid were given a chance to delight the travelling fans in Green & White over in the far corner, as Gale was fouled on the edge of the box, and Strunz stepped up to convert the penalty and put Rapid 1-0 ahead (18’)!

Whilst we had hoped that the advantage on the scoreboard would help Rapid take control of the game, all that was created was a shot off-target from Gale, before the hosts pushed back again and Fally Mayulu had to make a desperate goal line clearance to hold onto the lead after a corner kick for Gurten (22’). Strunz took aim and went for a second, but the home keeper saved (32’), and suddenly the game was tied up once more. A high ball forward fell awkwardly for Querfeld in defence, and the front two of Gurten combined well to get the ball down, and Jakob Kreuzer slotted it past Niki Hedl and into the corner; 1-1 (36’). The best chance before the break fell to Rapid though, and Patrick Greil got free down the right and cut the ball back for Martin Moormann, whose strike was ultimately blocked, leaving the scores level at the interval.

A late flurry finishes the job

Oliver Strunz could not continue for the second half, but Rapid needed to make some changes anyway to find more solutions against a resolute Gurten performance. Matthias Seidl came on, and although he posed a threat immediately, again it was the hosts who made life difficult for the Green & Whites. Jakob Horner smashed a long-shot on goal which Hedl had to tip over the bar (56’), before a great chance came our way, as Thierry Gale crossed low towards the back post; Bajic and Grgic were both waiting to tap the ball in, but it was very well cleared from right in front of goal (60’). Marco Grüll and Nic Kühn both came on to add some more firepower to the Rapid attack (72’), but it was Union Gurten who then found the breakthrough. A cut back across the box was controlled and placed into the bottom corner by Fabian Wimmleitner, who sent the home crowd into a frenzy (76’), and worried the Rapid supporters late in the game.

Rapid were not giving up though, and the ever industrious Seidl collected a pass from Grgic in the area, set himself, and fired powerfully through the defence and in for 2-2 (82’). Rapid were back in business! Now we had the upper hand and went in search of the late winner, Grüll came closest when his curler forced a lovely save (91’), but the game would go into extra time.

After an unexpected delay of almost an hour when the floodlights went out, play eventually resumed and Rapid really hit their stride. Kühn’s dribble into the area resulted in a penalty for handball, and Marco Grüll dispatched that to make it 3-2 (96’)! Seidl and Kühn then combined in the area before the latter hit his shot wide from a decent position (101’), but Oswald soon picked out Mayulu at the far post to slam in another goal for 4-2 (102’). Mayulu again was on point to finish off a nice combination with a header into the net for 5-2 (108’) and by then things were done and dusted.

The hosts made life hard work for Rapid in Round 2 with a battling display in Ried, but by 23:30 local time, the tie was over and the Green & Whites secured their place in Round 3: Job done, in the end. Now it’s all about getting some rest, and preparing for a huge Derby game this weekend.

Fotos: GEPA