Success on the Road takes Rapid into the Top Six

A fine finish from Matthias Seidl and a stunning solo from Marco Grüll gave Rapid an important win in the battle for the Championship Group, despite a late fightback from WSG in the rearranged fixture.

Why is there such a long winter break in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga? Well, our Matchday 16 endeavours as we made the journey west (twice) to face WSG Tirol show exactly why winter can cause some issues with Austrian football! After heavy snowfall on Saturday, the first away game for our new coach Robert Klauß had to be pushed back to Tuesday evening, and still the December air in Innsbruck swirled with snow, and the game would have to begin with an orange ball and an almost white pitch.

A familiar looking XI got things going for Rapid in their Red & Blue founding colours with only Terence Kongolo coming into the side in place of Maxi Hofmann in defence, and the back line had to hold firm after a decent start from the hosts kept the first ten minutes very finely balanced in the tough conditions. Rapid had the first really good look at goal though, when an effort was blocked in the box, and the loose ball fell for Marco Grüll to hit a low snap shot and force the WSG keeper to get down and make his first save of the evening (12’).

Leo Querfeld and Matthias Seidl picked up bookings as WSG began to combine slightly more comfortably in the snow, and the hosts caused problems several times with set-piece deliveries and corner kicks, without managing to steer much on target. The closest they came was when Nik Prelec headed wide (26’), and Niki Hedl had to be alert to a long ball to come out into the area and force the home striker wide, conceding a corner (38’). Neither side found a breakthrough before the half-time whistle blew, but more would be needed after the break as Rapid hunted for an important win on the road.

Crucially, the boys in Blue & Red hit the front soon after the restart, as Nikolas Sattlberger got down the right, picked out Nic Kühn in the middle, and rather than going himself he had time to find Seidl who duly smashed the ball into the top corner from deep inside the area. 1-0 Rapid (50’)! Ten minutes later, a massive chance to double the lead went begging, as Seidl combined with Neraysho Kasanwirjo with a slick one-two, before the defender slid his shot wide (59’). Rapid were then awarded a free kick right on the edge of the box, which Guido Bürgstaller guided round the wall but not past the keeper (60’), before Kasanwirjo blocked a dangerous chance to help keep hold of our second-half advantage in a busy phase (61’).

With WSG attacking and leaving space behind, Grüll got through on goal but could only drag his shot off target (66’), an error which he soon atoned for when he fought for a long ball down the left, cut inside through the defence and fired in a sensational finish for 2-0 with his fifth goal of the season (74’)! There were more chances to increase the advantage, but instead the game would end with a sour taste after a VAR check led to a red card for a tackle by Kongolo (88’). Martin Moormann was then unlucky to turn a low cross into his own net from close range (91’) to set up an unnecessarily nervy final few minutes with the lead at 2-1 in stoppage time.

Rapid survived a late push from WSG with a header wide and a volley into the arms of Hedl, and crucially, held on to take all three points and move into the top six ahead of a home game against Salzburg at the weekend. Good job, Rapid!

Fotos: GEPA