In the 93rd minute

Coach effect? GAK vs Rapid LIVE from 14:30

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Bundesliga bottom side GAK drew 1-1 with second-placed Rapid on coach Rene Poms' debut. It wouldn't have taken much for the Graz side to secure their first win of the season, but Rapid striker Dion Beljo converted a penalty in the 93rd minute for the final score.

Rene Poms celebrated a respectable success on his debut as GAK coach. The Styrian led the promoted team to a 1-1 home draw against Rapid on Sunday, but his team still have to wait for their first win of the season in the Bundesliga. Christian Lichtenberger gave the bottom team the lead (69'), Dion Beljo equalized from a penalty (93'), meaning the Hütteldorfer are unbeaten in eleven competitive games.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Poms only made one change compared to the last match under Gernot Messner, and it would probably have been the same under his predecessor: Petar Filipovic, who had been suspended against Sturm, returned to the starting eleven. GAK started ambitiously, a header from Lukas Graf flew just wide of the goal (5').

(Bild: Pail Sepp/Sepp Pail)

Rapid took command from around the 20th minute and came close to taking the lead on several occasions. Guido Burgstaller failed to beat GAK goalkeeper Jakob Meierhofer after a one-two with Beljo (22'), Benjamin Rosenberger deflected a Beljo effort onto his own crossbar (29') and Burgstaller missed from a promising position (36'). Last but not least, a shot from Bendeguz Bolla was unsuccessful (45.+1).

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Poms reacts at the break
Poms responded with a triple substitution at the break and his team almost made it 1:0 shortly after the restart. After a corner from Murat Satin, Milos Jovicic headed against the crossbar and Dominik Frieser tucked away the rebounded ball, but was offside (47'). This was followed by a break lasting several minutes due to heavy smoke caused by the use of pyrotechnics, after which the game rippled along without any highlights - until the 69th minute. Lichtenberger was able to lay the ball off unchallenged a good 20 meters in front of goal and scored via the inside of the bar.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Rapid looked tired three days after the 1-0 home win against FC Noah in the Conference League and were unable to find a suitable response for a long time. The only notable chance to equalize was a Burgstaller shot from an acute angle that was blocked by Meierhofer (79').

Burgstaller goal disallowed
In stoppage time, however, Meierhofer hit substitute Noah Bischof on the head in an attempt to save, and referee Daniel Pfister decided on a penalty after VAR consultation, which Beljo converted. Burgstaller even scored in the 98th minute to make it 2:1 for Rapid, but he was only marginally offside.

(Bild: Pail Sepp/Sepp Pail)

GAK - SK Rapid 1:1 (0:0)
Graz, Merkur Arena, 9,069, referee Pfister

Goals:
1:0 (69.) Lichtenberger
1:1 (93.) Beljo (penalty)

GAK: Meierhofer - Jovicic, Filipovic, Graf - Frieser, Perchtold (46. M. Lang), Satin, Rosenberger - Lichtenberger (96. Dressel), Maderner (46. Vucic), Cheoukoua (46. Schriebl/81. Zaizen)

Rapid: N. Hedl - Bolla, Cvetkovic, Raux-Yao, Auer - C. Lang (68. Sangare), Lu. Grgic (87. Wurmbrand), Kaygin (75. Bischof), M. Seidl - Burgstaller, Beljo

Yellow cards: Pechtold, Rosenberger, Meierhofer, Satin, Lichtenberger and Kaygin respectively