Fally’s Goal Fixes Fourth Position

A fine finish from Fally Mayulu made all the difference as Rapid secured their place in the second round of UEFA Europa League qualifying for next season.

The last away game of the campaign took Robert Klauß’s Rapid down to Klagenfurt for a meeting with the team at the foot of the Championship Group. After a scintillating win against Salzburg last time out, the Green & Whites wanted to make it back-to-back victories in the group for the first time since 2021, and take a big step towards fourth place in the process. Thierry Gale, Jonas Auer, Nana Kasanwirjo, Moritz Oswald and Ismail Seydi were all unavailable through injury or illness, but Nenad Cvetković, Christoph Lang and Isak Jansson were able to take their places in the squad once again.

The home side - managed by the familiar face Peter Pacult - started the game the stronger, and the first good chance went their way, but Leo Querfeld was in position to block well after a cut-back from the right, and the follow-up went over the top (6’). After a corner kick, Guido Burgstaller headed Rapid’s first effort towards goal, but he was thwarted by a diving save from home keeper Menzel (12’), who also had to get down towards his post to keep out Matthias Seidl’s effort from distance (21’) as Rapid began to take the reigns. The remainder of the first period then saw very few good goal-scoring chances, although Klagenfurt mustered a number of shots which went wide, and one which was blocked by Cvetković in the area (42’) when it might have been heading on target, and the teams would go in at the break with the game level at 0-0.

Dominic Vincze came in for Christoph Lang for the second half, and the Green & Whites got off to the perfect start. Marco Grüll sent a delightfully measured pass through the defence and into the left of the area for Fally Mayulu, and the French forward stayed calm and leathered a low shot past the keeper and in from the angle for 1-0 to Rapid (46’)! He almost scored again when Grüll squared the ball his way moments later, but his shot was just wide (49’), and Klagenfurt remained in touch, just one behind.

A good opportunity came their way on 65 minutes, but Andy Irving’s low strike came back off the far post, although Niki Hedl might well have had it covered with his fingertips anyway. Roman Kerschbaum then came on for the closing stages, and he hit an effort towards goal which needed saving (82’), but that was the last of the big moments in the match, and Rapid saw out the narrow win away from home!

 With the three points in the bag, fourth place was secured, and the team can now look forward to a final-day home game against Hartberg next Sunday. Bravo Rapid!

 Fotos: GEPA