Home Win: Championship Group Secured!

This Sunday's home game against GAK was an unwanted finale of sorts; with a place in the top-six “Championship Group” on the line, a win was needed to settle things safely in Rapid's favour. Head Coach Robert Klauß wanted to carry over some of the momentum from the magnificent mid-week win which secured the club an historic European quarter-final berth, and Thursday’s scorers Dion Beljo and Louis Schaub were back in the line-up for the visit of the Grazers. Jakob Schöller and Lukas Grgić had to miss out due to injury, while Bendi Bolla was absent through suspension.

The Green & Whites tried to take control in the early stages, patiently keeping the ball within our own ranks, before our first threat of a goal came via Mama Sangaré, whose shot from the edge of the penalty area was deflected behind for a corner (10'). The next moment, the hearts of all the Rapid fans may have skipped a beat when a very long-range shot from GAK’s Maderner sailed accurately towards an empty net, but Niki Hedl reacted at pace to get back onto his line and claim the ball (12'). Just under ten minutes later however, the home fans could breathe a sigh of relief: After a corner kick delivery from Matti Seidl, Nenad Cvetković rose highest at the front post and glanced the ball into the net from a tight angle for 1-0 (23')!

The game then became increasingly intense, and after a clear foul on goalscorer Cvetković, a penalty was awarded following a VAR check. Dion Beljo stepped up and converted the spot kick with nerves of steel to make it 2-0 (32')! Rapid's players were dominating the game and didn't really let the visitors make any headway. Shortly before the break things would get even better: Isak Jansson showed one of his trademark turns of pace, and burst into the box down the left, before he smashed the ball in low at the near post for 3-0 (44'), meaning that Rapid held a commanding lead at the interval, and the stress of the top-six battle could subside a little!

In the second half, we were able to take our foot off the gas to some extent, and the number of chances created dipped as a result. The biggest chance after the restart came to Niki Wurmbrand, who rounded the GAK keeper after a misplaced back-pass, but found only the side-netting with his shot (62’). Robert Klauß then made some changes, as Noah Bischof, Andrija Radulović und Ange Ahoussou came on, with the latter making his maiden appearance in Hütteldorf (65’). After a quick transition forward, the next big chance came to Mama Sangaré, but the keeper could make the save this time, and with Ercan Kara and Tobi Børkeeiet on for the final few minutes, the final chance came the way of Moritz Oswald, whose header from a Jonas Auer cross ended up heading straight for the shot-stopper’s gloves (88’).

In the end, the performance and the first-half goals were enough to see us to a comfortable win, as Rapid secured the all-important spot in the Championship Group for the remainder of the season. Let’s go!

Fotos: GEPA