Rapid can thus secure participation in the “upper play-off”, in which the best six teams play, next Sunday in the home game against Austria Klagenfurt with a win on their own. Marco Grüll (7th) gave Hütteldorfer the lead in front of 2,200 spectators with his sixth goal of the season via free kick, Kelvin Arase (23rd) increased a little later.
Coach Ferdinand Feldhofer’s squad also won their second duel of the season after the 5-2 win in Vienna and are still undefeated away from WSG after their fourth meeting in the league. The tenth-placed Tyroleans have only got one point from the last five rounds.
Rapid shoots itself into the top six
Rapid has shot into the top six in the Bundesliga with a 2-0 win at WSG Tirol. In the tight fight for the last free places in the championship group, Hütteldorfer improved from seventh to sixth place, equal on points ahead of Ried.
Feldhofer had hoped that his team would show a completely different face than when they performed poorly in the Netherlands. In terms of personnel, he had made three changes. Arase and Dejan Petrovic came on for Jonas Auer and Srdjan Grahovac, up front 20-year-old Bernhard Zimmermann made his debut in a 4-4-2 system as the second forward alongside Ferdy Druijf. Barcelona returnee Yusuf Demir therefore had to sit on the bench. Niklas Hedl guarded the goal in the third competitive game in a row.
Rapid preliminary decision
The Tyroleans’ hopes for a tired Rapid team were not fulfilled. The guests tried to show a reaction from the start, controlled what was happening and also experienced a perfect course of the game. Grüll converted a free kick from around 18 meters directly, surprising Ferdinand Oswald with a shot into the Tormanneck.
Arase came full circle in the 23rd minute. He scored at Tivoli, where he also scored his last league goal in a 3-2 win over WSG on April 28, 2021. He had previously scored 1-1 there on March 21, 2021, and his last three league goals all fell on Innsbruck soil.
Arase completed the five after Thorsten Schick had ideally passed Julius Ertlthaler to the middle after a hook. Goal number three was prevented by Oswald with a save from a Petrovic volley (31′). Grüll, who had previously initiated the Arase hit, provided the preparatory work with a lob.
Hosts too harmless
For the time being, one waited in vain for chances from the home side. That changed right after the restart, where Giacomo Vrioni shot wide of the far post from a good position (50′). However, that was the only chance.
Rapid was secure on the defensive and could have added a few more goals themselves. Arase shot just wide (75′), a Grüll free kick was just as close (77′). In the finish, Philipp Schobesberger almost celebrated his goal comeback in the league immediately after being substituted on, but Oswald was able to excel (89th).
Comments on the game:
Thomas Silberberger (WSG trainer): “It was another used afternoon, a bitter evening and a deja vu. You talk all week, train all week and then after seven minutes you’re back on the losing side because you score a goal yourself. The ball was absolutely durable, I don’t think there are two opinions. A total of eight WSG players were in the box at 0:2, but it still comes to an extremely cheap one-on-one duel, so the whole match plan is pointless. In the end, we make life extremely difficult for ourselves.”
Ferdinand Feldhofer (Rapid-Trainer): “It was a great reaction, that’s what we wanted and we showed that really impressively. It was an unbelievable pressure situation. We already knew in winter that the four games in the league wouldn’t be easy and after the hardships on the journey and the performance on Thursday, where we really deserved a lot of criticism, there’s a lot of reason to praise us today. Winning is always the right time, it was very important today that we put in such a serious performance, I like it a lot.”
Bundesliga, 21 round
Sunday:
WSG Tirol – Rapid 0:2 (0:2)
Tivoli Stadium Tirol, 2,200 spectators, SR Ebner
goal sequence:
0:1 grunt (7th)
0: 2 Arase (23.)
WSG: F. Oswald – Koch (77th/Ranacher), Behounek, Stumberger, Schulz (68th/Awoudja) – Rogelj (69th/Skrbo), Naschberger, Smith, Ertlthaler (56th/Prica) – Blume (57th/Forst ), Vrioni
Rapid: N. Hedl – Schick, Aiwu, Wimmer, Moormann – Arase (84th / Grahovac), Petrovic, R. Ljubicic, Grüll (88th / Schobesberger) – Zimmermann (73rd / Auer), Druijf
Yellow cards: Smith, Stumberger or Schick
The best: Naschberger or R. Ljubicic, Grüll, Petrovic
