Points Dropped in GAK Draw

Ahead of kick-off on Sunday, the role of the favourites was clearly with SK Rapid, as we travelled to Graz as unbeaten Bundesliga leaders for a Match Day 7 clash with winless basement club GAK.

 Coach Peter Stöger made a few changes compared to Wednesday's cup match in Oberwart. Janis Antiste and captain Matthias Seidl were in the starting XI, and as Bendegúz Bolla was injured in the final training session and had to sit out, Furkan Demir slotted into the right-back position. In contrast to recent games, Martin Ndzie was missing from the offensive starting line-up, having spent most of the build-up training individually. Tobias Gulliksen, who scored twice in the 2-1 win in Burgenland, made his first Bundesliga start, while Jonas Auer and Louis Schaub (who had been severely hampered in recent weeks by persistent problems with his Achilles tendon), returned to the 20-man squad.

 Due to clouds of smoke hanging over the pitch, kick-off was delayed by a couple of minutes before experienced referee Harald Lechner blew his whistle to get the game underway. The hosts started aggressively and Tio Cipot saw the first yellow card of the match after just about 80 seconds when Jannes Horn was taken out with a rough tackle. There was little offensive action from either team in the early stages, with GAK recording the first chance in the penalty area and earning themselves just a corner, as Furkan Demir was able to clear the danger nicely. In the 19th minute, the Green & Whites created their first good chance: after good work from Nikolaus Wurmbrand, GAK goalkeeper Jakob Meierhofer alas managed to turn behind Claudy Mbuyi's shot for a Rapid corner.

In the 22nd minute, Furkan Demir repeatedly caused trouble in the final third, somehow getting the ball into the penalty area, where captain Matthias Seidl flicked it on to Janis Antiste, who fired home an unstoppable shot from the crowded centre of the box to give Rapid a 1-0 lead! It was the Frenchman's second competitive goal for the club, having previously scored a crucial equaliser in our 2-2 draw in Dundee.

It remained an intense game, with the hosts fighting hard, but our side held their own. Alexander Hofleitner had to leave the field injured after a collision, and ten minutes later, the Grazers had a good chance to equalise, yet our defence worked together well to clear the ball for a corner. At the other end, Nikolaus Wurmbrand had a promising chance to score after Tobias Gulliksen won the ball and sent over a nice cross, but his shot went just over the bar. There was a moment of panic in the 44th minute when Niklas Hedl was beaten, but home forward Ramiz Harakate failed to hit the target from a tight angle as he rushed through to get to the ball. After four minutes of added time, captain Matthias Seidl led the team in at the break with a 1-0 lead.

Coach Peter Stöger sent his team back out onto the pitch with an unchanged line-up, and it was clear that hard work would be needed if we were to take the three points back to Vienna. In the 48th minute, Claudy Mbuyi had the next chance to make it 2-0 when he got to a cross from Nikolaus Wurmbrand in the six-yard box, but he blasted the ball over the bar – a chance gone begging!

Less than five minutes later, Mbuyi did some great work under pressure, playing a cross into the danger zone despite his markers, but Janis Antiste's shot was scraped clear off the line by the GAK defence. It remained a tough but fair match, with many little breaks or stoppages interrupting the flow. In the 65th minute, the first substitution was made, with Marco Tilio coming on for Nikolaus Wurmbrand, and just ten minutes later, Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao had to leave the pitch with a headache, to be replaced by Ange Ahoussou. Claudy Mbuyi and Tobias Gulliksen were also replaced by Ercan Kara and Martin Ndzie as the game neared the final phase.

Shortly before the end of regular time, Furkan Demir, who had fought valiantly all evening, was unable to continue, and the coaching team brought Jonas Auer into the game, giving him his first league appearance of the season. Things were to get turbulent around the 90th minute, though. After a collision between a falling Marco Tilio and a GAK player after the ball was gone, VAR intervened and awarded a penalty to the hosts, which Daniel Maderner converted in the 94th minute. Niklas Hedl had guessed the right way but ultimately couldn't get to the ball to prevent the equaliser. Eleven minutes of added time were eventually indicated, and in the 99th minute our team almost scored a dramatic clincher, but a GAK defender was able to clear the ball off the line from a dangerous corner kick.

The score remained 1-1, which from our perspective certainly felt like two points dropped, given the distribution of the chances. In any case, we will go into the upcoming 347th Vienna Derby as league leaders, with 17 points from seven rounds!