UEFA Conference League: Happy Home Opener against Noah
On Thursday evening, it was time for SK Rapid to celebrate our opening home game in this season’s UEFA Conference League, and awaiting us was a tie against Armenian side Noah on the floodlit turf of the “West Stadium”. The line-up remained the same as the one which saw off Hartberg (2-1) on Sunday, with some good news in the form of Thierry Gale and Jakob Schöller being fit enough to feature in the squad. Head coach Robert Klauß made it clear in advance that the visitors were not to be underestimated, but three points was the only target.
As expected, the game got off to a fast start, but it was the Armenians who had the first chance of the evening (5'). Our response didn’t take long, however, and just a few moments later captain Matthias Seidl tried his luck with a shot towards the near post, but the goalkeeper had no trouble dealing with it (7'). A precision shot from Guido Burgstaller also failed to really stretch the visiting keeper (19’), but with just under half an hour gone there would be cause to celebrate! First, a header from Nenad Cvetković was just tipped onto the crossbar before the ball was cleared a couple of times, but it kept coming back into the box. On the third occasion, the cross slipped through everyone and landed with a bit of luck at the feet of Dion Beljo, who took advantage of the moment and steered the ball over the line from close range, 1-0 (31')! There were several more opportunities to extend the lead before the break, but first our number 9 failed to score with a header (39‘), before Beljo passed up the chance to secure a brace (40’). The team therefore went into the half-time break with a narrow but deserved lead.
The picture from the first half continued into the second: A high-tempo contest, with chances for those in Green & White. After a brief scare in which Mama Sangaré was stretchered off (but was thankfully able to continue), Matthias Seidl was thwarted twice by the Armenian defenders (54'). An attempt from a corner kick also flew narrowly wide of the target (55'). At this point, head coach Robert Klauß's team were in complete control of the game, a fact which was immediately demonstrated by a lovely combo: Burgstaller showed great vision and laid the ball off to Seidl, who again could only head it just wide of the post (60’).
Fresh legs were then brought on, as Guido Burgstaller and Mama Sangaré headed for the bench, while Noah Bischof and Dennis Kaygin got their chance to impress again (68'). The game was becoming more even though; the visitors got a touch more dangerous, and came forward more often, fortunately without any real end-product. Tobias Hedl made his European debut in the closing stages when he came on in place of Christoph Lang (84'), while Niki Wurmbrand and Roman Kerschbaum were also given a run-out, replacing goalscorer Dion Beljo and captain Matti Seidl (90.+1). Even though there were a few more changes to the team, the scoreline would remain exactly the same to the end!
After 94 minutes, we could finally celebrate a 1-0 home win thanks to Dion Beljo’s crucial goal, which added another three points to our Conference League - League Phase account, leaving SK Rapid in a great position near the top of the standings with two wins from two games! Great work, Rapid!
Fotos: GEPA
UEFA Conference League | 2. Spieltag | Weststadion
Tore: Beljo (31.)
Rapid-11: Hedl; Auer, Raux-Yao, Cvetković, Bolla; Grgić, Sangaré (68. Kaygin); Seidl © (90.+1 Kerschbaum), Lang (84. T. Hedl); Burgstaller (68. Bischof), Beljo (90.+1 Wurmbrand)
Ersatz: Gartler, Orgler, Böckle, Schöller, Kerschbaum, Gale, Hofmann, Kaygin, Bischof, Wurmbrand, T. Hedl, Vincze