ÖFB Cup: Gulliksen Double Sends Rapid to Last 16

Between the international break, the Bundesliga and UEFA Conference League, there was another change of competition on the weekly schedule on Wednesday: in the UNIQA ÖFB Cup, head coach Peter Stöger's side visited SV Oberwart, currently fifth in the Regionalliga Ost table. For our assistant coach Daniel Seper, it was undoubtedly an emotional reunion, as he not only hails from almost next door to the “Informstadion”, but also ended his active football career at his hometown club. After the Green & Whites had advanced to the second round with a tense 1-0 away win against Wacker Innsbruck, the Rapid players were keen to put in a top performance in blue and red and secure a place in the last 16.

 With that target in mind, Niki Hedl was in goal; with Jannes Horn, SP Raux-Yao, our captain for the day Nenad Cvetković and Bendi Bolla defending; Martin Ndzie and Romeo Amane played in midfield; Marco Tilio and Niki Wurmbrand operated as wingers; and Tobias Gulliksen and Claudy Mbuyi would put the yards in up-top.

 We clearly dominated the opening quarter of an hour, creating several chances to get in on goal, but our final passes always lacked precision. In the 21st minute, however, the build-up play was spot on: Tobias Gulliksen skilfully controlled Niki Wurmbrand's pinpoint cross and finished beautifully towards the front post to make it 1-0 (21'). Our number 17 celebrated not only giving us the early lead, but also his first goal in a Rapid shirt! Our players continued to control the game, but there wasn't much to see in terms of big chances. Martin Ndzie then had reason to celebrate shortly afterwards, but his goal from a corner was disallowed, as the delivery had already gone out of play (35'). Shortly before half-time, that all-important second goal finally came though; Niki Wurmbrand again claimed the ball coolly in the penalty area, and Tobias Gulliksen was once more on hand in the middle to apply the finish – 2-0 (45’)! After that flourish at the end of the half, the team went into the dressing room with a deserved lead.

The second half began with no changes to the line-up, but with the advantage in-hand, our team noticeably shifted down half a gear, and the drop off was immediately punished... after a foul in the penalty area, the hosts were awarded a penalty, which they coolly converted to make it 2-1 (55'). The goal gave the Burgenlanders a big boost, and just five minutes later we were very lucky to escape when the home side passed up a good chance to grab a leveller (60'). Head coach Peter Stöger reacted, and brought on fresh legs with Ercan Kara, Dominik Weixelbraun and Furkan Demir replacing double goalscorer Tobias Gulliksen, Niki Wurmbrand, and Jannes Horn (69'), while Matthias Seidl soon came on for Marco Tilio (79'). However, the new energy did not result in any goal-scoring opportunities, and we were unable to register a single shot on goal in the second half. Andrija Radulović was brought on to provide some momentum, replacing Martin Ndzie (86'), but still nothing spectacular happened.

 Despite a disappointing lack of fireworks after the break, we remained solid in the end, and thanks to the two goals from Tobias Gulliksen, we were nevertheless able to celebrate reaching the round of 16! 

Fotos: GEPA