Rapid inflict first defeat of season on us

In partnership with

FC Red Bull Salzburg

·1 September 2024

Rapid inflict first defeat of season on us

2-3 defeat in heated battle

We ran out of steam in our final fixture before the international break after such an intensive start to the season - as SK Rapid Vienna inflicted our first defeat of the 2024/25 season on us. We managed to make a dream start, only for the hosts to turn the tie around and run out 3-2 winners.

Match summary

The momentum of recent days was right in our favour, and that told in the opening minutes of the encounter. Our boys pushed from the start as Robert Klauß's side were penned back deep in their own half - and our opening goal duly came!

OneFootball Videos

We won the ball close to the opposing penalty area, and the gifted Oscar Gloukh took it and turned it across the goal for Dorgeles Nene (5') to sweep in for 1-0 – a classic goal! We could have made it 2-0 moments later as we failed to make the most of an overlap on the break, and suddenly we were right back against it …

The intensity of our last few weeks of football and temperatures in excess of 30 degrees Celsius at the Allianz Stadium took their toll, as we were unable to keep up with the extremely high tempo at all times. The Viennese worked their way into the game step by step, and a momentary lapse of concentration saw us lose the lead. Two direct passes were all it took to break free of our defence. Jansson was free to rove down on Janis Blaswich and level (19'). That goal set our Red Bulls back as Rapid grew in confidence. An impressive Auer volley landed in the roof of our net as the Green and Whites were suddenly in front (37')!

We wanted to respond before the break, and indeed we did. In the 40th minute, Petar Ratkov headed the ball onto the crossbar. The Serbian striker was still able to celebrate in first-half stoppage time as we broke after a Rapid corner. Nene was the creator in this incidence, cutting back for Ratkov to slot home tidily from the edge of the box and bring us level at the break (45+2').

The second half got off to a fierce start as the tackles flew in from all directions. After ten minutes of play, the first bad moment came as Maurits Kjaergaard went to ground - and after being freshly called up for international action by Denmark - he had to be carried off the field. A few moments later, Jansson put a real dampener on proceedings as the Swede broke free of our backline halfway up the pitch and raced on target to make it 3-2 (60'). We weren't going to give up there. Pepijn Lijnders pushed our boys on to further attacks as we got more frequently into the Viennese penalty area without offering any real threat. Ultimately the efforts of the past few weeks took their toll as we were unable to avoid our first defeat of the season. The international break therefore comes at an opportune time. Our Red Bulls will - in some cases- have a chance to regain their strength and start again refreshed in the middle of September!

Views

We began well and almost made it 2-0. We lost a lot of balls between the lines after that, and didn't close down the middle well enough. In a lot of situations, we should have been more aggressive, but we didn't manage that today. We had a fantastic start to the season, but it was always clear to me that we couldn't always have things go our way. What makes it difficult for me today is the fact that the defeat could have been avoided. That's the way it is, and that will help us to develop!

Pepijn Lijnders

Line-up

Substitutions

Daghim for Kjaergaard (55'), Capaldo for Ratkov (55'), Bidstrup for Gourna-Douath (55')

Yellow cards

Gourna-Douath (48' foul), Yeo (51' foul), Diambou (90+1' foul), Nene (90+2' dissent)

Injury news

Not available were Fernando (thigh), Daouda Guindo (metatarsal), Takumu Kawamura (knee), Karim Konate (knee), Leandro Morgalla (thigh) and Aleksa Terzic (thigh).

Stefan Bajcetic, Bobby Clark and Edmund Baidoo are not yet eligible.