Green & Whites Cruise to Home Win over Klagenfurt

After a well-deserved win away from home in the Conference League on Thursday, Rapid were back in Hütteldorf for Sunday’s clash with Austria Klagenfurt on Matchday 13 of the Bundesliga season. Robert Klauß’s team had gone eight games unbeaten in the league, and with that, had kept tracking not far behind the league leaders. With Sturm winning already, three more points for Rapid were imperative to keep up the pressure before the international break. Mama Sangaré was missing through suspension, plus Dion Beljo and Bendi Bolla missed out after going off injured in midweek, so Jakob Schöller, Dennis Kaygin and Noah Bischof were in the line-up, with the latter making his starting-debut.

The Green & Whites began with plenty of attacking intent, and Louis Schaub slipped a pass through for Bischof who fired just over (2’) before captain Matthias Seidl was also off-target (4’) in the very early stages of the game. Yet the offensive opening would soon pay dividends for Rapid; a cross from the left found the head of Bischof, he nodded-on in the area for Schaub, who headed the ball perfectly back across goal for Guido Burgstaller to volley it in at close range for 1-0 (11’)! Our number 9 moved to the top of the scoring charts at the Allianz Stadium, with his 24th goal at the ground! We kept the tempo up, and the same trio would be responsible for a second goal soon after, as Bischof’s pass deep into the box was met by Burgstaller on the left, and scorer turned provider as he squared the ball back through the six-yard box, setting up a tap-in for Louis Schaub in front of the empty net. 2-0 (23’)!

Our number 21 celebrated his first Bundesliga goal since back in 2018, and also scored for the first time in seven years on home turf for Rapid! Klagenfurt, on the other hand, remained largely unremarkable apart from two half-chances in the first period, and they were mainly tasked with defusing various Green & White attacks. After a pass across the box from Bischof, Guido Burgstaller almost had his brace, but he was denied by the goalkeeper when it looked like he would make it 3-0 from five yards out (45'+3), so the score on a wintry Sunday remained 2-0 at the interval.

In the second 45 minutes, the Rapid players continued where they had left off. Matti Seidl had a top chance straight away, making his way through into the centre from the left of the area despite a lot of defenders around him, but his shot was eventually just scrambled away off the line (48'). At the other end, Klagenfurt tried to get in front of goal following a free-kick, but Niki Hedl had no trouble plucking the ball out of the air (55'). Christoph Lang then came on for the final thirty minutes, replacing Matthias Seidl (64’). With Rapid comfortable at 2-0, the visitors became bolder as the game progressed and turned on the afterburners at times, but fortunately they didn’t manage to get much on target. The game was then over for our two goalscorers Guido Burgstaller and Louis Schaub, who were replaced by Tobias Hedl and Thierry Gale (73‘), while Roman Kerschbaum and Benjamin Böckle also came on for Dennis Kaygin and Jonas Auer (83’).

The freshly introduced Tobi Hedl proved his strength with a double chance, first seeing his shot from the right parried away by the goalkeeper (85‘) and then narrowly missing the target with another shot soon after (86’). Benni Böckle then had the next opportunity, but again he fired just centimetres off-target (88'). Klagenfurt then became a bit more aggressive again, but our defence held firm against the guests. Despite one last good chance from Christoph Lang (90’+4), the scoreline would stay as it was until the end.

As a result, we rightfully continued our home winning-streak and added the next three points to our Bundesliga tally. With the positive momentum at our backs from two wins inside a few days, we can now head into the international break, and look forward to the challenges ahead!

Fotos: GEPA