Right-back Filip Stojkovic scored in front of a negative crowd of only 8,900 spectators with his goal (47th) that Rapid returned to winning ways after two competitive defeats. At home, however, the run of success was continued, there were three points in the fourth competition game in a row. The dress rehearsal before the home game against West Ham United in the Europa League, in which only one win counts in the promotion race, was also successful.
A missed penalty by Ercan Kara (85th) in the majority did not matter, as Noah Bischof was sent off in the 59th minute after VAR intervention. For the penultimate Altach, in the “first leg” still 2-1 winner, it was the second defeat en suite.
Strong start from Rapid
There was no surprise on Rapid’s starting grid. As expected, Martin Moormann slipped into the team in central defense, as Maximilian Hofmann, another central defender (CoV contact person), had to pass. The other two changes compared to the 1: 4 at WAC concerned the regular players Maximilian Ullmann and Robert Ljubicic, who returned. In the Altachern coached by ex-Rapid trainer Damir Canadi, Atdhe Nuhiu and Manuel Thurnwald, two former green and white teams, started.
Hofmann had announced a victory before the game and his team almost gave him a dream start. After less than half a minute of the game, Taxiarchis Fountas failed first to Tino Csasali, before Kara, served by Marco Grüll, shot over from the best position. Fountas also tested Altach’s goalkeeper with a long shot (14th).
Altach only with a top chance
The initial momentum was quickly gone, however, the Viennese let the ball run well in their own ranks without radiating a goal hazard. Above all, there was a lack of the necessary ideas and precision in the passing game.
Altach was very low, but almost equalized with the only top chance before the break. Bischof brought the ball past Paul Gartler, but Moormann, who had previously lost the duel, was able to correct his mistake by saving on the slide just before the line (34th).
Stojkovic scores after Fountas-Assist
Even after changing sides, the guests slept through the beginning. This time they were punished for it after a little over a minute. After Fountas hole pass, Stojkovic rolled the ball into the far corner. A gala performance by the Hütteldorfer did not follow either. That didn’t really change even after a red card for Bischof, who was tough against Gartler, given after the intervention of the video referee.
Fountas hit the outside pole (60th), but otherwise it was the Vorarlberg team who fought courageously despite being outnumbered and at least in the beginning became dangerous. Only in the finish could Rapid have made everything clear, but after a foul by Stefan Haudum on Thierno Ballo, Kara failed on Casali. With the victory, the Rapid fans, who due to the lockdown from Monday were probably allowed to go to the stadium for the last time before Christmas, were satisfied.
Voices for the game:
Steffen Hofmann (Rapid interim trainer): “The result was the best, you have to be so honest. We got off to a really good start with the chance at the beginning, but then we had a hard time against the massive defenders Altach and we didn’t have enough peace of mind in the game. After the break, we deservedly made it 1-0 with a nice move and left one or the other chance or half-chance behind. I’m not entirely happy with the result because we could have scored more goals. Victory is important to gain confidence. And the guys defended really well. “
Damir Canadi (Altach trainer): “We delivered a very good performance and in the end we suffered a very unfortunate defeat. We were good in both halves, except for the first minute when we were very inattentive. Rapid almost took the lead in the first half. Then we were really good at the game, we played it down really well, also in the playful area, but unfortunately we didn’t reward ourselves. After the break we quickly fell behind due to carelessness, we have to blame ourselves for that. The red card annoys me a lot, the way we check VAR is unbelievable, we check everything. Bischof makes a technical mistake, tries to touch the ball, is off balance, I think that was never on purpose. The action should have been punished with a maximum of yellow. “
Admiral Bundesliga, 15th round
Saturday:
Rapid – Altach 1:0 (0:0)
Vienna, Allianz Stadium, 8,900 spectators, SR Schüttengruber.
Tor: Stojkovic (47th)
Rapid: Gartler – Stojkovic, Aiwu, Moormann (88./Dijakovic), Ullmann (87./Auer) – Grahovac, R. Ljubicic (78./Petrovic) – Fountas (78./Arase), Knasmüllner, Grüll (70./Ballo ) – Kara
Altach: Casali – Thurnwald, Dabanli, Ndiaye, Schreiner – Bukta (77./Mischitz), Aigner (77./Prokopic), Haudum (88./Meilinger), Tartarotti (77./Reiter) – Nuhiu (77./Krizman), bishop
Red card: Bishop (59./Foul)
Yellow cards: Ullmann, Auer or Aigner, Nuhiu, Reiter
The best: Fountas, Stojkovic, Aiwu or Ndiaye, Dabanli, Casali
