UEL Quali 2nd Round: A Precious Away Win Against Wisla

After a long wait, it was finally time for SK Rapid and head coach Robert Klauß to face their first competitive challenge of the new season; on the agenda was a UEFA Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round tie against Polish cup-winners Wisla Krakow. After coming down with illness at late notice, Louis Schaub and Nikolas Sattlberger were unfortunately missing, and instead newcomers including Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao and Bendi Bolla would get the chance to make their official debuts in Green & White.

Every member of the squad was raring to go for the start of another European journey, and it was Rapid who had the game’s first chance, when Jonas Auer curled the ball ultimately too close to the Polish side’s shot stopper (4’). Despite the action moving back and forth between both penalty areas, the first half-hour saw a dearth of real chances on goal at either end. The hosts tested Niklas Hedl on one occasion with a teasing cross that was almost bundled home, but it was Rapid who had enjoyed the better chance, when some nice link-up play allowed Guido Burgstaller to get a shot off which had to be tipped away by the keeper at the last second (31’). Although Wisla were spending plenty of time in our half, the back line held firm, and Rapid found the perfect response when Isak Jansson dribbled into the penalty area brilliantly, before patiently cutting back onto his right foot, delaying the shot, and then tucking the ball low through the legs of a defender and into the far corner! 1-0 Rapid (37’)! Unfortunately, there was a dampener on our half-time celebrations, as a stretching challenge from Bolla earned him his marching orders (‘45 +5), leaving us down to 10-men at the interval.

With the numerical disadvantage in mind, scorer Jansson was withdrawn for Moritz Oswald for the second half, but the Polish side took advantage of their extra man and pushed forward. Only the woodwork stopped a header from flying in (49’) as Wisla had their tails up, but it was the Green & Whites who delivered the next significant blow. From range, Rapid captain Matthias Seidl smashed a low shot towards the target, and it sailed sweetly towards the right of the goal, before crashing off the inside of the post and in on the other side of the Wisla net! A beautiful strike, and 10-man Rapid led by two (53’)!

In the latter stages, Noah Bischof made his competitive debut when he came on for Dion Beljo (69’), but ten minutes later Rapid’s advantage was halved, when Maximilian Hofmann could only deflect a shot on target into his own net from right in front of the goal; 2-1 (79’). Head Coach Klauß responded, bringing on Furkan Dursun for Guido Burgstaller (82’), and with the extra running that was required, Nenad Cvetković was also introduced in place of Lukas Grgić, and Rapid were able to hold out until the full time whistle blew after 95 minutes, sealing a satisfying away win.

Rapid therefore take the tie back to Hütteldorf with a small lead in hand ahead of the second leg. Well done, lads!

Fotos: GEPA