Round 1 of 3 against Graz: An Unlucky Loss Away

The first of three clashes in a fortnight with SK Sturm Graz kicked off on Friday evening. In the 27th round of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga season, head coach Robert Klauß' team travelled to Graz-Liebenau and wanted to start off on the front foot and take the momentum with big games up ahead. Unfortunately, there were a number of absentees from a personnel point of view, including captain Guido Burgstaller, Leo Querfeld, Nikolas Sattlberger and Terence Kongolo. On a more pleasing note, however, Ismail Seydi made his starting debut for the Green & White senior side, and another youngster, Dominic Vincze, took his place on the bench for the first time. Unfortunately, round one of three didn’t go the way we wanted.

Neither team was able to assert themselves decisively in the early stages and there were no gilt-edged scoring chances. Graz had slightly more possession, but were unable to put their stamp on the game. However, the Styrians had the best chance in the first half, with Niklas Hedl first having to make a strong save before our captain on the day, Maximilian Hofmann, was able to clear the ball off the line (35'). We kept coming forward, especially through the lightning-quick Ismail Seydi, but the accuracy was lacking once we reached the final third. Just under five minutes before the break, Marco Grüll and Christoph Lang challenged the Sturm defence for the first time, but their shots were blocked and eventually a foul for handball was the only outcome (41'). After a relatively unspectacular first half, the teams went in at the break with the game deservedly level.

Our team returned to the Styrian pitch with the same personnel, and just ten minutes after the restart, the first real shooting chance came for the Green & Whites, with Marco Grüll firing the ball into the hands of the Graz goalkeeper (56'). Seydi also proved his speed once again, but could not quite make the most of his sprint, as his shot hit only the side-netting (63'). Head coach Robert Klauß immediately brought on fresh legs with Isak Jansson and Fally Mayulu replacing Seydi and Christoph Lang (74'). What followed was a very unfortunate moment, in which a harmless Sturm attack was defended well, only for the ball to slip out of the hands of Niki Hedl, and right into the path of Mika Biereth, who tapped in for 1-0 (79'). The team came together to support the Rapid keeper, who had put in another excellent display until that point. In stoppage time, Dennis Kaygin came on for Roman Kerschbaum before Fally Mayulu had a chance to grab an equaliser, but in the end hit only the goalkeeper (90').

In the end, we had to travel home from Graz without any points. However, we will have the opportunity to take revenge on Wednesday in Hütteldorf (kick-off 20:30). Keep your heads up, Rapid!

Fotos: GEPA