An unfortunate defeat in the home derby

A strong first half from the Veilchen, featuring several great chances, unfortunately went unrewarded; their city rivals ultimately ran out 2–0 winners thanks to a penalty from Yusuf Demir and an own goal by Taeseok Lee. A result that, sadly, did not do justice to their performance.

In head coach Maximilian Uhlig’s first major Vienna derby, the Veilchen went into the match with three changes from the cup tie against Hartberg. Samuel Şahin-Radlinger returned in goal in place of Mirko Kos, whilst Johannes Handl and Reinhold Ranftl started in place of Ibrahim Buhari and Daniel Nnodim. Philipp Wiesinger was named in the squad for the first time this season after recovering from patellar tendon problems.

Rapid, under manager Johannes Hoff Thorup, reverted to their “league line-up” – as used in the match against Lustenau – after making three changes to the starting line-up for the Cup tie. Jannes Horn, Petter Nosa Dahl and Ercan Kara returned to the team.

Austria with top chances, but still no goals

Austria pressed very high up the pitch in the opening minutes; an early chance from Johannes Eggestein was blocked by the Rapid defence (4’). At the other end, Dahl cut into the penalty area, but his shot hit the side netting (6’). Ranftl shot over the bar, whilst Samuel Şahin-Radlinger thwarted a chance from Tonni Adamsen (13’). After 22 minutes, Vasilije Marković shot over the bar; a lob from Handl following a mistake by Niklas Hedl was cleared off the line by Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao (26'). Just a few seconds later, Marković left two Rapid players in his wake and smashed the ball against the crossbar from 20 metres – bad luck for the Violets (27').

Sanel Šaljić narrowly missed a cross from Eggestein (29'). Nenad Cvetkovic scraped a thunderous volley from Šaljić off the line, and Hedl managed to parry the follow-up shot from Manfred Fischer (33'). A free-kick from Šaljić from a good position went over the bar (43’), whilst a shot at the near post – also from Šaljić – was parried away for a corner by Hedl (45’). Despite a strong first half from the home side (11:4 shots on goal), the score remained 0–0 at half-time.

Rapid scored twice after the break

Early in the second half, a cross from Fischer dipped dangerously towards goal, but Hedl tipped the ball over the bar (48'). Austria continued to dominate play, but on the hour mark, Kara went down in a challenge with Aleksandar Dragović inside the penalty area. Referee Stefan Ebner awarded a penalty, and Yusuf Demir made it 0–1 (60').

Dahl missed a great chance to make it 0–2 following an assist from Bolla, after which Uhlig made a double substitution: Florian Wustinger and Daniel Nnodim replaced Šaljić and Ranftl. Şahin-Radlinger was on hand to deny a double chance from Dahl and Bolla (69). The visitors from Hütteldorf had gained the upper hand after the goal, and Uhlig attempted to counter this with another substitution. Striker Kelvin Boateng came on for defensive midfielder Valentino Müller.  

Şahin-Radlinger saved a shot from substitute Claudy Mbuyi; from the resulting corner, Mbuyi’s header sailed higher and higher, the ball struck the post and rebounded off Taeseok Lee’s leg into his own net – the decisive 0–2 (82’).

Matteo Schablas and Julian Hettwer came on in the closing minutes to replace Lee and Handl, but the score remained unchanged. Austria suffered a 0–2 defeat in the 351st Vienna Derby.

Austria Wien – SK Rapid 0–2 (0–0)

Austria: Şahin-Radlinger; Handl (87’ Hettwer), Dragović, Vorsager; Ranftl (66’ Nnodim), Müller (76’ Boateng), Marković, Taeseok Lee (87’ Schablas); Fischer, Eggestein, Šaljić (66’ Wustinger)

Rapid: Hedl; Bolla, Cvetković, Raux-Yao, Horn (88’ Auer); Seidl, Bajlicz; Y. Demir (76’ Schaub), Adamsen (64’ Tilio), Dahl (88’ Wurmbrand); Kara (76’ Mbuyi)

Goals: Y. Demir (60’, penalty), Taeseok Lee (82., own goal)

Yellow cards: Vorsager (74.), Marković (76.); Y. Demir (62.), Horn (82.), Mbuyi (90+4)

Generali Arena, 13,461 spectators, referee Stefan Ebner