2:1 against Rapid

LIVE from 5 pm: The Vienna derby Austria – Rapid

Cheers for the Austrian team, no cheers for the Rapid team

(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

Austria beat Rapid 2-1 in the big Vienna derby to draw level on points with league leaders Sturm Graz! The Green-Whites took the lead on Sunday in Vienna-Favoriten with a dream goal from Mamadou Sangaré (30'). However, Dominik Fitz equalized with a foul penalty (41') before the break and scored shortly after the break with a free-kick (47') to give Austria their eighth home win of the season.

After the 344th clash between the arch-rivals, coach Stephan Helm's team, who are already unbeaten in twelve competitive matches (eleven wins), now have a nine-point lead over Rapid. There are still four rounds to play before the points are shared. It was the first defeat for Rapid coach Robert Klauß in the third derby. After two spring rounds, fourth-placed Hütteldorfer are still waiting for their first point.

15,300 spectators attended the first derby without visiting fans in almost ten years. The away sector was not deserted, as Austria had invited charitable organizations to attend. In any case, the Violets' fan stand missed the rivalry in the stands and sent out a banner saying: "Today is not a real derby".

Klauß relies on speed, Dragovic grits his teeth
Klauß relied on speed in attack and benched his captain instead. Matthias Seidl, scorer of the winning goal in the 2:1 win in Hütteldorf in the fall, had to make way for Nikolaus Wurmbrand. Nenad Cvetkovic also returned to the starting eleven. For Austria, Hakim Guenouche replaced the suspended Matteo Perez Vinlöf. Goalkeeper Samuel Sahin-Radlinger, who had recently been suffering from back problems, was fit. Aleksandar Dragovic's hip was tweaked, but the defensive boss did not miss the derby.

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(Bild: GEPA)

Rapid were first in front of Sahin-Radlinger after just under ten minutes with a shot from Wurmbrand, whose strike partner Dion Beljo shot past the far corner three minutes later. Austria relied on their source of ideas, Fitz, but failed to create any goalscoring threat. Niklas Hedl in the Rapid goal only had to intervene with a harmless shot after just under half an hour. Rapid went ahead shortly afterwards.

Sangaré's trick shot
Sangaré's goal deserved the title "worth seeing". The Malian latched onto the ball after a blocked shot with his back to goal and finished volleyed left-footed. Rapid were celebrating alone and had the upper hand. Sahin-Radlinger parried a Schaub shot, and after the following corner kick Beljo was unable to get out of the way of a shot from his team-mate Isak Jansson. The ball would probably have gone in.

Austria did not have a dangerous shot on goal in the entire first half, but managed to equalize. Jonas Auer made a technical mistake and left his foot out against Reinhold Ranftl. Referee Julian Weinberger awarded a penalty, but there was no appeal from the VAR. Fitz stepped up and scored safely.

Austria efficient
The 25-year-old had not had enough in his 150th Bundesliga appearance. 80 seconds after the restart, Fitz stepped up to take a free-kick and curled the ball over Hedl and into the far corner. Austria proved their merciless efficiency. Rapid had to react: Schaub put a header next to the goal, Klauß complained about an offense by Austria's Tin Plavotic and saw yellow for it.

(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

After an hour, Rapid's coach brought on Ercan Kara for Wurmbrand, and Seidl came on for Schaub a quarter of an hour before the end. Austria made a substitution with Marvin Potzmann for Abu Barry. Rapid had more possession, but apart from a blocked Seidl shot (79') there was no danger in the Austria penalty area. Dragovic and Co. once again stood firm defensively. Things got turbulent again deep into stoppage time. The ball landed in the net after a corner kick, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

The result:
FK Austria Wien - SK Rapid 2:1 (1:1)
Vienna, Generali Arena, 15,300 spectators, referee Weinberger

Goals: 0:1 (30') Sangaré, 1:1 (41') Fitz (foul penalty), 2:1 (47') Fitz

Yellow cards: Fitz, Gruber or Wurmbrand, Cvetkovic, Beljo, Grgic, Kara, Sangaré, Klauß (coach)

Austria: Sahin-Radlinger - Handl, Dragovic, Plavotic - Ranftl, Barry (75. Potzmann), Fischer, Guenouche (62. Galvao) - Fitz - Prelec (84. Raguz), Malone (84. Gruber)
Rapid: Hedl - Bolla, Cvetkovic, Raux-Yao, Auer (81. Schöller) - Schaub (75. M. Seidl), Sangaré, Grgic (75. Oswald), Jansson - Beljo, Wurmbrand (60. Kara)