Muharem Huskovic (4th) and Dominik Fitz (17th/penalty) fixed a deserved guest lead before the break. Rapid’s increase in performance in the second half only brought the goal from Ante Bajic (91).
The Austrians returned to winning ways in one of the most important games of the year after the bitter setbacks against Sturm Graz (0:3) in the league and at Villarreal (0:5) in the conference league. There was no sign of physical problems due to the double burden and the return from Spain on Friday. Rapid is still without a win after their tenth appearance in the Allianz Stadium against Austria, and there was a fourth defeat in six draws. In the table, Austria climbed to fifth place, Rapid fell back one point to seventh place.
The Austrians got off to a perfect start with right midfielder Andreas Gruber, who got fit in time, and full-back Marvin Martins. After a failed tee shot by Nikolaus Hedl, the ball came back quickly and Huskovic, who served his head, gave the rapid goalie no chance. The hosts should have equalized with their first good move, but Ferdy Druijf, standing alone in front of Christian Früchtl, was denied by the Austria goalkeeper (14′). That took revenge promptly, instead of 1:1 it was suddenly 0:2.
Rapid changes have a positive effect
Martin Koscelnik played the ball into Fitz’s run when trying to clear and then fouled him, which is why Manuel Schüttengruber had no choice but to point to the penalty spot. Fitz started himself and converted confidently. This strengthened the self-confidence of the favorites even more. They acted much more ball-safe and were clearly the better team in terms of play. A Braunöder shot went over it (25′), and Huskovic didn’t get the ball on target this time from a similar position to the first goal (41′). A minute later, Aleksandar Jukic carelessly missed a top chance.
At Rapid, the game was only piecemeal up front and the defense at the back was anything but solid. That’s why Ferdinand Feldhofer reacted at the break by bringing in Maximilian Hofmann instead of Michael Sollbauer, and Patrick Greil replaced the Serb Aleksa Pejic in midfield. That had a positive effect, the hosts were suddenly much more present, more aggressive and also set the tone in terms of chances. Früchtl had to use all his skills to get a Druijf header (56′). Immediately afterwards, a Zimmermann shot was blocked before Druijf missed the goal (57th).
Austria started swimming
In a Grüll volley it was Früchtl again who made a brilliant save (60′). The Austrians were almost exclusively occupied with defensive tasks, but almost scored another goal because Jonas Auer almost scored an own goal (64th). Otherwise, only the connection hit was in the air. According to the TV pictures, a penalty kick after Lucas Galvao allegedly fouled Zimmermann was rightly withdrawn (67th). The guests then defended skillfully, but were still swimming in the final phase.
Druijf extended an Auer cross to “Joker” Bajic, who scored from a tight angle. Nevertheless, it remained the case that Hütteldorfer had to take a hard hit after the recent 5-0 win at WSG Tirol. It was a team’s first win in a derby since Rapids went 3-1 at the distribution circuit on September 1, 2019. Rapid will continue in Ried on Saturday, Austria will be visiting Schlager Salzburg on Sunday, but before that they have to play in the “second leg” at home against Villarreal on Thursday.
Source: Nachrichten
