At the end of the day, Grün-Weiß will play at the fifth WAC with equal points, Austria will welcome Sturm Graz. In addition, Rapid’s series of failures against Salzburg continued. Ferdinand Feldhofer’s team has been waiting for a win against the “Bulls” for twelve league duels and has lost all of the last seven showdowns with the series champion. Salzburg, on the other hand, could equal the record of 26 wins set by Wiener Austria in 1985/86 with a home win against Austria Klagenfurt. At that time, however, 36 rounds were played and not 32 as is currently the case.
The hosts, who bid farewell to Kelvin Arase, Srdan Grahovac, Philipp Schobesberger and Leo Greiml before kick-off, had to give up eleven players due to injuries or suspensions. That’s one of the reasons why eleven Austrians were in the starting line-up, who started with enthusiasm in front of 23,400 spectators. Arase fired wide from a good position after 45 seconds and headed just over the bar in the fourth minute.
Salzburg uses the first chance
But then Salzburg took the initiative and took their first chance. After a remarkable attack via Nicolas Seiwald and Karim Adeyemi, Sucic made it 1-0 for the champion.
After that, Salzburg had everything under control and had a lot of possession but few chances to score. It only became really dangerous again in the 39th minute when Leopold Querfeld blocked Junior Adamu’s header in front of the line. In the 45th minute, Rapid snuffed out the great opportunity to make it 1-1. Moritz Oswald was freed by Marco Grüll, but was denied by goalkeeper Nico Mantl (45′) in front of Salzburg’s goal. The last action of the first half belonged to Salzburg again, with a shot by Rasmus Kristensen not missing much.
Rapid fights in vain to equalize
After the change of sides, Rapid presented themselves as at least equal opponents and fought passionately for the equalizer, which was missed by a hair’s breadth in the 73rd minute. A shot from Arase first landed on the post and then bounced off the back of Mantl’s head and onto the crossbar. Salzburg could have increased in the 78th minute, but a volley from substitute Brenden Aaronson went over the goal.
Rapid’s pressure phase in the finish brought nothing more, with the exception of a Strunz chance (90th) thwarted by Mantl, which means that Rapid is dependent on Sturm’s support in the race for third place. Third place guarantees participation in a European Cup group phase, fourth place has to qualify for the Conference League, fifth place competes in the European Cup play-off of the league.
Admiral Bundesliga, champion group, 31st round
Sunday:
Rapid – Salzburg 0:1 (0:1)
Vienna, Allianz Stadium, 23,400 spectators, SR Ebner
Tor: Sucic (10.)
Rapid: Gartler – Querfeld, K. Wimmer, Moormann – Schick (80th / Savic), Aiwu, Ljubicic (80th / Knasmüllner), Auer – M. Oswald (60th / Demir), Grüll, Arase (80th / Strunz)
Salzburg: Mantl – Van der Brempt, Solet, Bernardo – N. Seiwald, Camara (69./Aaronson) – Kristensen, Sucic, Kjaergaard (75./Junuzovic) – Adamu, Adeyemi (69./Sesko)
Yellow cards: Aiwu, Grüll and Van der Brempt, Aaronson
The best: Ljubicic, Grüll or Sucic, Mantl
