Rapid Finish Dramatic Day in the Championship Round

Sunday’s game saw SK Rapid take a trip to Klagenfurt for the final round of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga’s regular season. In a tense Wörthersee Stadium, both teams were on the cusp of qualification for the top-six Championship Round, but the positions were yet to be sealed by either side, meaning there was a lot riding on the game. Guido Burgstaller, Marco Grüll, Maximilian Hofmann and Thorsten Schick were all serving suspensions for the clash, and Nana Kasanwirjo was also missing with a knock, therefore Isak Jansson made his starting debut, Leo Querfeld became the youngest captain in the club’s history, and Carinthian defender Michael Sollbauer was ready and waiting on the bench.

 In pouring rain, both teams began evenly matched in the opening stages, but we were able to get into opposition territory from time to time thanks to the swift actions of Jansson. The first big chance however, went the way of the home side, when former Rapid man Nicolas Binder saw his effort tipped onto the crossbar by keeper Niki Hedl (21’). Our shot-stopper was called into action again a few times, most notably with some quick reactions from a corner which was headed goalwards (30’), but he made the saves well and kept the scores level. As a response to Klagenfurt’s pressure, our attackers made their presence felt; Fally Mayulu battled hard time and again to win back the ball, and after skipping away on the left, his square ball was on target for Christoph Lang to turn it in with our first real chance of the game! 1-0 (39’)! With not long left before the break, the scoreline remained unchanged, and we headed into the changing rooms with a precious lead. 

One change was made at the interval, as assist-provider Mayulu made way for Furkan Dursun to enjoy his Rapid debut (46’), but the opening minutes were quiet and chances were sparse, the best effort coming from Moritz Oswald (56’) only for his shot to have too much placement and not enough weight behind it to trouble the keeper. Matthias Seidl then hammered a low free kick on target, but the Klagenfurt stopper got his hands behind it (63’). Head Coach Robert Klauß looked for a refreshing presence, and on came Jovan Živković for Jansson, meaning that there were six young, home-grown players who had been given a chance on the pitch for SK Rapid (66’). Fortune fell our way moments later as the home side hit the woodwork again (68’), but after some well-weighted passing, the Klagenfurters found their equaliser soon after, with a VAR check confirming that their forwards had remained just onside. 1-1 (73’). Roman Kerschbaum came on in place of our goal scorer Lang, but in the closing stages, there were no more major chances, and it ended 1-1.

With the situation in the table changing dramatically throughout the day, SK Rapid ultimately finished the regular season inside the top six, and will now take part in the Championship Round for the rest of the season. The most important objective for the weekend was complete, and now we can push on in the league, with ten big games still to come. Well done Rapid!

Fotos: GEPA