UEL Quali Rd 3: Rapid Book Return to Europe!

A full house in Hütteldorf, and fantastic weather: everything was set up for a magical European night in the west of Vienna! With a 1-0 lead from the first leg, the Green & Whites welcomed Trabzonspor to the Allianz Stadium. After two years without a full European fixture, we had the chance to guarantee a spot in the European group stages once again, if we could get past our Turkish opponents and reach the UEL Play-Offs. Niki Hedl returned to the squad for Thursday night’s game after a slight injury, and Bendi Bolla was also back in the starting XI after serving his suspension.

The first chance of the game fell to the Green & Whites: From a corner kick, Nenad Cvetković rose highest and headed the ball just wide of the post (6'). Our guests enjoyed the upper hand in the early stages, but were unable to make a decisive impact in front of goal. After 16 minutes, Guido Burgstaller had a huge chance for the opener, but our number 9 was denied by the Turkish goalkeeper at the last moment with the crowd expecting him to score (16'). Mama Sangaré had the next attempt, but his low shot from range was also no problem for the goalkeeper (26'). Rapid felt like there was a spell on the Trabzonspor goal, as Louis Schaub also narrowly missed the target, side-footing wide across goal after a fantastic combination via Bendi Bolla on the right of the area (34’). The first half ended up goalless, despite a wealth of chances, mostly for the home team!

The second half painted a similar picture, but it took time for either side to create any gilt-edged chances. In the 63rd minute, Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao headed right into the keeper's hands. And Isak Jansson also put the Turkish goalkeeper to work once again, testing him with a shot towards the near post (66'). Louis Schaub's working day was over, however, as Dion Beljo came on in his place (72'), and in the very next moment, our Swedish winger had another go, but Jansson's shot was pushed away again by an increasingly busy stopper (74'). After 77 minutes, the time had finally come: After a pass in-behind from Bendi Bolla, captain Matti Seidl was bearing down on goal, and calmly poked the ball past the keeper and into the far corner of the net for 1-0, and a two-goal aggregate lead!

Isak Jansson was then hauled down as he burst away down the right hand side, and with his pace good enough to go clear on goal, the referee decided that the foul was worthy of a red card for the guests (85'). Moritz Oswald and Christoph Lang came on for the final phase (86'). and the change bore fruit immediately: Christoph Lang met a sumptuous Seidl through ball on the left, and tucked away Rapid’s second goal of the evening with his first touch of the ball; 2-0 (87')! Finally, Furkan Dursun and Dennis Kaygin came on for Guido Burgstaller and Mama Sangaré (90') and soon after, the home win was in the books!

The result, 2-0 (3-0), means that SK Rapid have booked a tie against Portuguese side SC Braga in the UEFA Europa League Play-Off Round, but regardless of the result in that contest, we are guaranteed a place in the Group Phase of a European competition for next season. WELL DONE RAPID!

Fotos: GEPA