Football: Thrilling finish – Rapid and LASK drew 3-3

The draw they fought for in difficult sporting times only helps Rapid to a limited extent; the Green-Whites were also unsuccessful in their sixth league home game in a row.

Previously, Lukas Grgic (15th) and Marco Grüll (91st) scored with a hand penalty for Rapid, while LASK professional Marin Ljubicic scored a brace (22nd, 72nd). In the table, Green-White is tied on points (15) ahead of city rivals Austria Vienna in sixth place, Linz remains third.

Rapid coach Zoran Barisic brought in two new players compared to the defeat against Austria Klagenfurt: right-back Thorsten Schick and midfielder Lukas Grgic. At LASK, the expected rotation after the international appearance during the week did not occur. Only Andres Andrade replaced Felix Luckeneder in central defense.

Also read: Rapid should feel the frustration of LASK in the Europa League

The 18,700 spectators in the Allianz Stadium saw a turbulent opening few minutes with chances on both sides. Rapid’s top scorer Guido Burgstaller didn’t hit the ball correctly from a good position (3rd), on the other side Leopold Querfeld almost deflected the ball into his own goal (4th). LASK captain Robert Zulj also put the ball into the side netting (5th). Both teams then kept the tempo high and played a lively game.

A free kick variant gave Rapids the lead after a quarter of an hour. Burgstaller headed it across to Grgic, who steered the ball over the line with his knee (15th). LASK did not let this deter them and quickly equalized. Rapid goalkeeper Niklas Hedl sent a sharp cross towards the middle, Ljubicic shot in from close range (22′). The Linzers were once again dangerous before the break through Ljubicic (41′, 45′), before Maximilian Hofmann missed a header for Rapid (29′).

LASK got off to a better start in the second half. A header from Zulj hit the outside bar (46th), Moses Usor missed from a central position (51st). But Rapid also remained dangerous and should have taken the lead after an hour. First, Nicolas Kühn failed alone against LASK goalkeeper Tobias Lawal, Jonas Auer put the follow-up shot on the top edge of the crossbar (60th).

However, LASK took the lead. Ljubicic lobbed over Hedl as he stormed out and scored his brace (72′). Rapid showed morale, but initially missed great opportunities through Burgstaller (74th, 82nd) ​​and Grüll. In addition, Nikolas Sattlberger had to leave the field with a yellow-red card (78th). A Grüll hand penalty, which could only be taken after minutes of review, finally led to the equalizer. LASK scored the supposed winning goal through Balic deep into stoppage time, and Gale practically equalized with a header. Afterwards, the Rapidlers were celebrated by the fans.

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“It was a very intense game. My team did really well for long stretches. In the second half it was an open battle, where you had the feeling that the game could go either way. It was a bit lucky then, that we scored what was supposed to be the winning goal in stoppage time. But it was very bitter that we then got the equalizer. Of course they are lost points,” said LASK coach Thomas Sageder.

And Zoran Barisic (Rapid coach): “It was a very exciting game, a spectacle for the fans. At the beginning we were a little nervous with the ball, but that’s normal in our situation. But we fought our way in and with it We were rewarded with the opening goal, but then got the equalizer straight away. In the second half, as so often happens, we failed to take the lead. Then came the goal and the red card, but the team continued to fight our way to the equalizing goal 2:2 and then rewarded with 3:3. That was more than fair. Of course we would have liked to win the game, in retrospect we take the point with us. I hope that we draw a lot of energy from the game and gain self-confidence. I don’t need a lot of games like that as a coach.”

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