Rapid celebrates a well-deserved 2-1 victory after a hard-fought game against WAC The two youngsters Bernhard Zimmermann (20) and Dragoljub Savic (20) scored the goals for Hütteldorfer.
Despite extreme staffing problems in the Bundesliga, Rapid returned to winning ways. Hütteldorf’s team beat WAC 2-1 (1-0) in their fourth league group game on Sunday afternoon at Allianz Stadium and thus moved up to third in the table for now. The lead over fifth-placed Carinthians, who also lost their fourth game after the regular season, could be extended to four points.
Bernhard Zimmermann (38th) gave the Viennese the lead in front of 16,200 spectators with his fourth goal of the season. After the break, Dragoljub Savic (81st), a 20-year-old Serbian, became the match winner in his first appearance of the season for the pros and just moments after being substituted. Matthäus Taferner (75th) had just equalized. Guests mostly failed due to lack of chance assessment.
Corona cluster in Rapid forces Feldhofer to act
16 players who have played minutes this season, including Marco Grüll, Ferdy Druijf and Emanuel Aiwu, were not available to Rapid coach Ferdinand Feldhofer due to corona infections, injuries or suspensions. This is one of the reasons why Christopher Dibon returned as a defender and captain after surviving a knee injury.
The 31-year-old played for the pros for the first time since their 2-0 defeat to Sparta Prague in the Champions League qualifiers on 28 July 2021. It was his first league appearance since their 2-0 defeat in Salzburg. on June 3, 2020. Only players who normally work for the second team in the second division sat on Rapid’s bench. But the Carinthia were also far from having the best lineup, so with Eliel Peretz, Thorsten Röcher and Tai Barbo, three regulars were sorely missed.
Hedl stands out in Rapid’s goal
Regardless, a quick game developed from the start, in which both teams played with open visors. In the early stages, the Viennese had the best moments, Christoph Knasmüllner missed two good chances (3rd, 8th) in his 150th competitive game for Rapid. In addition, Zimmermann took aim beside the goal (12th).
After that, it was the Carinthia who became dangerous again and again, but they couldn’t finish. This was the case with Dario Vizinger (13th), Christopher Wernitznig (22nd) and Nikolas Veratschnig (25th). It was also Veratschnig who couldn’t run to Niklas Hedl because of the ÖFB U21 team’s goalkeeper (26th). Hedl also excelled in a header from Baumgartner (31′).
With this accumulation of opportunities, the opening goal of the home team surprised, but it was well disputed. Thorsten Schick, served by Dejan Ljubicic, threw it back to Zimmermann, who defeated Kofler. After the restart, Knasmüllner also missed his third opportunity and shot into the side net after a great pass from Demir (56th).
Luck in the final stages
Otherwise, the guests vehemently pressed for the tie, but the ball did not want to go into the goal for the time being. Mario Leitgeb was unlucky with a header into the crossbar after a corner, and the Rapidlers somehow managed to clear the ball with their combined strength (60′). The spell was broken just before the rapid quarter-hour began. After Vizinger’s pass into the hole, Taferner capped off a good display with the equalizer. The joy was short-lived as Savic hit the ball under the nearly 20-metre crossbar after Nicolas Binder’s preparatory work.
In the end it was a happy victory at home because Vizinger (82′) and Veratschnig (88′) were not insensitive enough and Hedl once again reacted brilliantly in a duel with Baumgartner (95′). Feldhofer managed to celebrate three points in a duel with his former club. The Rapidlers, who lost 2-1 in Salzburg, also got their revenge 4-1 at Wolfsberg on November 7, 2021. And that includes the league debuts of Binder, Aristot Tambwe-Kasengele and Pascal Fallmann.