The Hütteldorfers were lucky when Leoben’s Kevin Friesenbichler missed the first chance in the game and chased the ball over the goal from a promising position. Matthias Seidl failed in a similar way before Guido Burgstaller put the ball on goal after his suspension – Drini Halili could only direct the ball into his own goal (26′).
Shortly before the break, Christoph Lang made the preliminary decision from a half-right position (41′). After the break, Rapid didn’t let anything go wrong and only had luck with a shot from the pole by Nico Pichler from a distance before “Joker” Fally Mayulu scored (91′). The opponent in the final on May 1st in Klagenfurt will be determined on Thursday (8:45 p.m., live on ORF1) between Salzburg and defending champion Sturm Graz.
2-0 by Lang (41st min.)
Christoph Lang increased it to 2-0 for Rapid before the break.
Chance for 15th cup title is alive
Rapid is aiming for its 15th cup title; Green-White only failed in this endeavor in the finals in 2017, 2019 and 2023. Leoben, currently second in the 2nd league, said goodbye with his head held high after his remarkable cup season with victories over WSG Tirol, WAC and most recently Altach, among others, despite a harmless performance.
GEPA/Avni Retkoceri Around 8,500 spectators came to the Monte Schlacko Arena
Rapid acted in two places in the Monte Schlacko Arena, which was sold out with around 8,500 spectators, compared to their most recent league win in Hartberg: right-back Neraysho Kasanwirjo came on for Moritz Oswald, and Burgstaller returned in attack after his three-game ban. Marco Grüll moved back into the attacking midfield instead of Isak Jansson.
Leoben misses a huge opportunity to take the lead
Rapid’s attempt to become dangerous with possession and culture of play initially failed due to Leoben’s aggressive defense. Rather, it was the home team who had the first great chance after Winfred Amoah’s nice dribbling and pass to Kevin Friesenbichler. The former Wiener Austria striker ultimately clearly missed the guests’ goal (15th).
Great opportunity by Friesenbichler (15th minute)
Kevin Friesenbichler gets the ball a few meters in front of the goal. He shoots over it.
Rapid then became more dangerous. First, Burgstaller stumbled on his shot from the turn in the penalty area (18th), shortly afterwards he fed Matthias Seidl, who, in a promising position, aimed far over (19th). The goal was ultimately scored by someone from Leoben, Drini Halili deflected a Burgstaller shot into his own goal – but the Rapid goalgetter was credited with making it 1-0.
Long with preliminary decision
The green-white superiority against an increasingly inattentive Leoben defense had another impact before the break. Burgstaller lost the ball on the edge of the penalty area, but Lang, who was chasing, grabbed it and used it from a few meters into the near corner (41′).
The guests controlled the game even after the break, Seidl failed to score five by DSV goalie Florian Wiegele on the hour mark, and a little later Burgstaller missed a low shot (67′). Leoben’s efforts to score the next goal fizzled out in midfield, top goal getter Deni Alar was completely unavailable that evening.
Leoben hits the pole, Mayulu into the goal
Only in the finish did something more come from the Styrians. Because a shot from captain Nico Pichler from 17 meters only hit the bar (78th), the Rapid fans were spared unnecessary trembling. When Leoben’s strength dwindled in stoppage time, Mayulu made the final score (91′).
3:0 by Mayulu (90th +1st min)
Fally Mayulu closes the bag in this game with his goal.
Voices about the game:
Rene Poms (Leoben coach): “When you take the lead, the game looks completely different. Then we got the score 0-1 with almost the first chance. In a game like this it’s important that you keep the score at zero for as long as possible, we weren’t able to do that today. Rapid then got more space and they are really good up front. But I can’t blame my team for fighting. If we took the shot in the second half, things would have become interesting again. But today we weren’t able to score.”
Robert Klauss (Rapid coach): “We won comfortably 3-0, even if we allowed a few situations from the opponent. All in all, it’s okay here, where three Bundesliga teams have been eliminated. I said at half-time not to become passive, but we then retreated too far and ended many situations sloppily. In the end, it’s what counts. I don’t really care about the opponent in the final, it can easily go into extra time.”
Uniqa ÖFB Cup, semi-finals
Wednesday:
DSV Leoben – SK Rapid 0:3 (0:2)
Leoben, Monte Schlacko Arena, 8,450, SR Hameter
Torfolge:
0:1 Burgstaller (26.)
0:2 Lang (41.)
0:3 Mayulu (91.)
Leoben: Wiegele – Untergrabner, Horvat, Turi – Heinrich, Eskinja (69./Michael), Pichler, Halili – Amoah, Alar, Friesenbichler (59./Dieng)
Rapid: Hedl – Kasanwirjo, Querfeld, Kongolo (85th/Hofmann), Auer – Sattlberger, Grgic (85th/Kerschbaum) – Lang (75th/Oswald), M. Seidl (85th/Mayulu), Grüll – Burgstaller (75th). /Zivkovic)
Yellow cards: Eskinja, Pichler and Seidl
Final on May 1st in the Wörthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt against the winner from Salzburg – Sturm Graz (Thursday, 8:45 p.m., live on ORF1)
2024-04-03 20:37:38
#ÖFB #Cup #Rapid #moves #final
