The leaders of the Bundesliga lost on Thursday evening in the third qualifying round to the Azerbaijani runners-up 2-1 (0-1) and thus missed the targeted good starting position for the second leg next Thursday (8.30 p.m.) in Vienna.
Thanks to a last-minute goal from striker Guido Burgstaller (95th), the Rapidlers can still hope for promotion. Ataa Jaber gave Neftci the lead in the 44th minute with a long-range shot that was deflected by Rapid centre-back Kevin Wimmer. Kenneth Saief raised on the hour for Laurentiu Reghecampf’s side, who had earlier knocked out Cyprus’ Aris Limassol after a 2-0 first-leg defeat.
Should the Hütteldorfers succeed in making a comeback in a week, the last hurdle on the way to the European Cup millions will be the winner of the duel between Konyaspor and Vaduz. Rapid coach Ferdinand Feldhofer changed his starting eleven in five positions compared to the 1-0 in the league at Austria Klagenfurt. Guido Burgstaller, Marco Grüll, Aleksa Pejic, Moritz Oswald and Wimmer were allowed to start again, the ailing Patrick Greil came on after an hour.
Central defender Emanuel Aiwu, who is about to join Italian Serie A promoted team US Cremonese, was absent from Baku. According to the media, Hütteldorfer can look forward to a fee of 3.5 million euros, which could increase by 500,000 euros through bonuses. “It may well be that in the coming days there will be a report,” said sports director Zoran Barisic on ORF.
In humid conditions around 30 degrees, the Feldhofer team almost got a false start in front of around 10,000 spectators in the Bakcell Arena. Exactly two minutes had been played when the Ghanaian Neftci striker Godsway Donyoh, completely free-standing, forced Rapid goalie Niklas Hedl to make a save from ten meters away. In a brisk early phase, the Viennese quickly approached the opposing goal, an overhead kick by Bernhard Zimmermann looked nice, but was harmless (5th).
Shortly thereafter, Ante Bajic lacked the necessary precision with a Stangl pass to Burgstaller from a promising position (10th), as well as with a strong long-range shot from around 18 meters that landed on the crossbar (17th). In the duel for the rebound, Marco Grüll was knocked off his feet by Neftci goalie Ivan Brkic, but the whistle of the Croatian referee Dario Bel remained silent.
A game developed with numerous chances for both sides. Green-White repeatedly came dangerously in front of the Neftci goal in the offensive game due to frequent game shifts, but lacked the last penetrating power. In addition, the defense often acted indisposed when the hosts counterattacked quickly. The Azerbaijani got stronger as the first half progressed, but they were lucky enough to take the lead just before half-time.
After the change of sides, the outstanding Donyoh had the 2-0 on his feet, the 27-year-old missed from a good position (51st). In the Rapid game, more and more inaccuracies crept in while Neftci pressed. Hedl first had to defuse a Saief shot with a flight (57′). Then the Rapid defense conceded another goal: In a completely chaotic attempt to build up the game in an orderly manner, Greil, who had come on immediately before, overlooked the charging Saief, who rounded Hedl and placed the ball between the legs of the approaching Wimmer in the goal.
In the final phase, the green-whites were unlucky with good chances from Nicolas Kühn (65th, 80th, 91st) and Greil (92nd). A few seconds before the end, Rene Kriwak extended a long ball with his head to Burgstaller, who coldly hit the far post to save himself.
Source: Nachrichten
