Sangare Stunner Can’t Prevent Derby Defeat

Rapid’s task on Sunday evening was to take on city-rivals Austria Vienna in the 344th Vienna Derby. With Wolfsberg beating league-leaders Sturm on Saturday there was a big opportunity to close up some points between Rapid and the top sides in the table, although to do that, the Green & Whites would have to win against an in-form opponent, and do so with no support from the away sector. Rapid captain Matti Seidl was on the bench for the beginning of the game, with Lukas Grgić and Mama Sangaré in the centre of the midfield, and Nikolaus Wurmbrand leading the line alongside Dion Beljo.

With no green corner in the stadium, the early stages of the contest had an unusual atmosphere about them, but Rapid got right into the game, and fought for every centimetre of the pitch from the off. With the two teams cancelling each other out, the first half-hour was largely a midfield battle, although the guests had the better of the few chances that came up. Nikolaus Wurmbrand got away down the left flank but failed to pick out an unmarked Louis Schaub in the centre (9’), before Dion Beljo connected nicely with a ball that was dropping down to the left of the area, firing a low shot just wide on the far side (13’). The Green & White defenders had to head clear a number of crosses, but there was nothing but routine work to keep goalie Niki Hedl busy.

Once the first half-hour was up, then came the brilliant breakthrough! Schaub’s shot from the right was blocked, but the ball found its way towards Sangaré in the centre, and with his back to goal he was able to lift it into the air amongst a pack of defenders, and acrobatically overhead-kicked the high ball into the bottom corner! A stunning goal to give Rapid the lead (31’). A good spell followed, and Schaub himself soon tested the Austria keeper with a clever shot on the turn which was well-saved at Sahin-Radlinger’s near-post (35’), and then from the resulting corner, Isak Jansson ran in and fired the low cross first-time towards the top corner, only for Beljo to inadvertently block the shot which surely was on its way in (36’). After that it was all the more painful when, at the other end, a blocked shot bobbled away from Jonas Auer near the corner of the box, and he was a touch late to clear the ball, resulting in a penalty for the hosts. Dominik Fitz scored from the spot, and so the half-time scores were level at 1-1.

Right from the restart, there was another shock for Rapid, as Fitz would strike again with a direct free-kick from wide on the left to put the hosts ahead (47’). Austria suddenly had the upper hand, and looked full of belief. The Green & Whites responded bravely though, and a cross towards the back-post from Jansson allowed Schaub to leap forward for a diving header (56’). His effort was just wide, but there was more than a hint of a foul on him as he got past his marker. Ercan Kara soon came on (61’) as Rapid went in search of a way back into the game.

The next changes saw Moritz Oswald and Matti Seidl take to the field in place of Louis Schaub and Lukas Grgić, and Rapid began to see more possession in the opponents’ half. Some fleet footwork from Beljo on the byline allowed him to square the ball across goal dangerously, but Seidl’s close range strike was deflected harmlessly towards the keeper (78’). Fellow sub Oswald then fired wide from outside the box (79’), before Jakob Schöller came on for the last ten minutes (81’). Rapid began to really lay siege to the Austria goal, but a couple of promising situations led to shots going just wide, before a stoppage time corner was awarded. The resulting delivery from Seidl picked out Beljo six-yards out, his header was agonisingly straight at the keeper, before a scramble saw Serge Raux Yao turn the ball just over the goal line before it was cleared (90’+2). The linesman’s flag was bad news for Rapid though, as an offside call had been awarded before the ball went in, and the late equaliser would therefore not stand.

Ultimately, despite a performance with many positive phases, Mama Sangaré’s superb goal was not enough to bring us any points from the latest Vienna Derby, and after 94 minutes the game finished 2-1.

Fotos: GEPA