The Viennese celebrated a flattering 2-1 (2-0) win against Vitesse Arnhem in the first leg of the sixteenth final at the Allianz Stadium on Thursday evening and would therefore already have the ticket for the 24 February (9:00 p.m.) in a draw in the Netherlands book next round. The LASK is permanently represented there after the group victory in autumn.
Ferdy Druijf, who came from AZ Alkmaar’s honor division at the beginning of February, made his debut in a duel with his compatriots of all things and crowned it with his goal after just 33 seconds. Marco Grüll (16th) quickly followed up in front of 10,700 spectators. After Filip Stojkovic was ruled out (65′), the game threatened to tip over completely, but Vitesse only managed to get the goal back through Lois Openda (74′). ÖFB striker Adrian Grbic remained without a goal in his seventh competitive game for his new club.
Rapid coach Ferdinand Feldhofer made three changes compared to the league 1: 2 against Salzburg. The recovered Robert Ljubicic replaced the injured Thorsten Schick in the team, Emanuel Aiwu moved from central midfield back to central defence, Stojkovic moved to the outside on the right side of defence. Druijf, who was only on loan for the time being, made his starting eleven debut on the offensive, and Yusuf Demir played from the start for the first time since his return from FC Barcelona. And that in a more offensive 4-2-3-1 formation than the last one.
The start couldn’t have gone better. After a Vitesse attack, the Rapidlers started a counterattack via Grüll, who served Ljubicic, who ran with him, and whose measured cross headed Druijf into the goal from three meters. The guests, who were already insecure due to the recent series of defeats, got the next setback and presented themselves as vulnerable and faulty on the defensive.
The Viennese had chance after chance in the early stages. Grüll shot just wide (4′), Druijf put the ball, which Koya Kitagawa had fought for after a goalkeeper error, over the empty goal (10′). But the second hit didn’t take long and fell through the fire-dangerous roar. The 23-year-old penetrated the penalty area and completed the near corner. He almost managed to score twice in heavy rain, but a Dutchman was just able to push him away (20′). It was also Grüll who narrowly missed the goal with another shot in the 38th minute.
There was nothing to be seen from the Dutch in the game going forward, which changed after the restart. Paul Gartler parried a shot from Maximilian Wittek, but was powerless against Grbic’s follow-up shot (48′). The goal did not count because of an alleged offside position. Rapid played into their hands that there is no video referee (VAR) in this phase of the competition. Rapid’s goalie was then challenged by a Domgjoni shot (49′).
On the other hand, the crossbar prevented the Dutchman from scoring twice when he was shot by Druijf (52′). However, Rapid no longer had the game under control as it did in the first half, and coach Thomas Letsch’s team made things much more open. And after the yellow-red card for Stojkovic for repeated foul play, the guests pressed vehemently. Gartler was able to clear a shot from the previously substituted ex-WSG-Tyrol striker Nikolai Baden Frederiksen via rod (66th). A Rasmussen header following the corner was just blocked. Baden Frederiksen was also unlucky with a header (71′).
The end of Openda, who was attacked far too little and hit the short corner from almost 20 meters, fitted the bill. Gartler prevented a double strike (80′), and a Wittek shot also caused a lot of danger (93′). Rapid won for the first time in their third competitive game in 2022 and also gained self-confidence for the league duel at Sturm Graz on Sunday. The Dutch lost the fifth competitive game in a row.
Source: Nachrichten
