Klagenfurt Snatch Win with Strong Second-Half

Matchday 11 of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga saw SK Rapid face the last team that they haven’t met in the league this season, namely, SK Austria Klagenfurt. Former Rapid boss Peter Pacult has worked wonders in Carinthia, and with Klagenfurt sitting inside the top-six and one point above Rapid, a home win was the aim, but it was far from a foregone conclusion on Sunday evening. Head Coach Zoran Barisic could once again call upon the services of striker Guido Burgstaller, after his injury spell was ended by a cult cameo appearance for Austria’s national team earlier in the week, and elsewhere in the attack were Marco Grüll, Matthias Seidl and Nic Kühn.

The home side immediately settled into the first game back since the international break, and a dangerous square ball from the right unfortunately had no takers in the middle early on (3’). When Rapid were first called upon to defend against Klagenfurt’s in-form strikers, Leo Querfeld timed his tackle perfectly to snuff out an attack (9’), before the Green & Whites were back on the attack. A ball through for Burgstaller was cleared by the on-rushing keeper (11’), but just seconds later Kühn got clear down the right, from whence he played a crisp ball into the centre for Burgstaller to slot home emphatically for 1-0 (11’)!

With a lead on the scoreboard, Rapid retained the upper hand and continued to combine passes nicely. Nicolas Wimmer had to head away a good cross (18’), Querfeld shinned the ball over the bar from a corner (28’) and Seidl cut the ball back well from close to the byline, only for Burgstaller’s effort to ricochet away for another corner (29’). Seidl then had a shot blocked (35’), and Grüll continued the offensive onslaught when he ran onto the end of a pass in the area. He was knocked to the ground, but rather than receiving a penalty, he earned a booking instead (37’). The last major effort of the half was again belonging to the home team, but as Rapid got the ball across the edge of the box, Grüll could only side-foot it over the bar, so a one-sided half ended at 1-0.

Both teams came out unchanged for the second half, but still the home side’s superiority would not let up. A low shot warmed up the Klagenfurt keeper just seconds after the restart, and then Nic Kühn forced his way through into the area only to poke the ball agonisingly wide of the far post (49’). Having not found a way to deservedly double the lead, what happened next was almost inevitable, as Klagenfurt launched their first dangerous attack of the game and Sinan Karweina picked out the far corner with a low shot. 1-1 (60’).

Five minutes later, the unthinkable happened, and Karweina again was played through on the right, where he fired in off the bar to turn the game on its head. 1-2 (65’). As Rapid tried to find a foothold once again and resume their dominance, Burgstaller blasted over the bar from the right (72’) but Klagenfurt once again had the extreme efficiency, as Aaron Sky Schwarz swept a low shot from the edge of the area in past Niki Hedl for another goal. 1-3 (74’), a hardly believable score based on most of the match. The home team thought they had pulled a goal back late on, when Querfeld finished off after a scramble in the area, and after a lengthy VAR check, it was confirmed: 2-3 (94’). Rapid would have a few more minutes to go for a leveller, but ultimately there was not enough time added on to get a third goal and claim a point.

It’s a frustrating defeat after another performance which had plenty of promise, and for a while appeared to be taking Rapid towards victory. We will have to put that one behind us quickly and start focusing on next Sunday’s game against LASK in Hütteldorf.  

Fotos: GEPA