SK Rapid Wien made a brilliant comeback on Sunday evening after 0-2 deficit. The Hütteldorfer won at SK Sturm Graz 3: 2 (0: 2) in the 90th minute thanks to a hit by Ercan Kara and thus moved past the LASK to second place in the table.
Stefan Hierländer gave Graz the lead in the first game after former coach Nestor El Maestro after a free kick from the left half field with a header. Otar Kiteishvili also headed to 2-0 before the break.
Shortly after the break tea, Kelvin Arase started the comeback with a goal on his comeback after concussion. Stefan Schwab from the penalty spot and Kara ensured the Rapidler’s 16th win of the season.
After the fourth defeat in a row, Sturm remains at the bottom of the championship group table and has only outsider chances for a place in the EL playoff. The debut of interim coach Thomas Hösele did not bring the desired success. Rapid is now two points ahead of the LASK – with a significantly worse goal difference.
Rapid can now fix second place against LASK on Wednesday with a win in a sporty way. Finally, it goes away against the WAC. Sturm still meets Salzburg and Hartberg at home. The Styrian competitors in the battle for fifth place are still four points away.
Rapid turns game against storm: So the game went
Hösele relied on a system change in his first game and with Niklas Geyrhofer and Vincent Trummer in the defense on two hopeful talents. On the offensive Jakob Jantscher moved into the starting lineup, Bekim Balaj acted as spearhead. From the beginning a brisk game with many duels developed, whereby the fit was missing on both sides.
Christoph Knasmüllner’s conclusion from a good position was too weak (8th), on the other side Balaj missed (12th). Knasmüllner also had the chance to take the lead in minute 21 but did not hit the ball properly from an ideal position. In addition, a header from Maximilian Hofmann went over it (30th).
In the 32nd minute, the sprinkler system briefly came to the fore, unwantedly watering the lawn near the goal. After a short interruption, Jantscher took the free kick and his cross sent the completely uncovered Hierländer across the line with the back of his head. The people of Graz, on the other hand, were more cold-nosed. After a counterattack and an ideal Despodow cross, Kiteishvili headed in the middle just before the break.
After the restart, the Viennese were the clear leaders and were also happy to get a tailor-made start. After a Stojkovic flank, Arase headed the ball across the line. The equalization was in the air shortly thereafter, but was prevented by a double butt-end from Koya Kitagawa, who failed to get the ball into the goal from five and then a few meters (54 ‘). But storm also remained a fire hazard: a shot from Balaj almost passed (60th).
The longer the game lasted, the more the Styrians lost their strength. They could hardly free themselves and therefore rightly collected the compensation. This was initiated by an unnecessary foul by Ivan Ljubic on Melih Ibrahimoglu just inside the box. Schwab did not confidently convert the penalty imposed, but he did. For Sturm it was even more bitter: “Joker” Kara pulled past Siebenhandl after Schick preparation and hit the empty gate. Rapid was lucky, the action was a little suspicious.
