"Pure Offensive Football" in Points Sharing Between Rapid Vienna and RB Salzburg

"It was a great advertisement for Austrian football," agreed Salzburg's coach Pepijn Lijnders and his counterpart Robert Klauß. And Rapid Vienna's Matthias Seidl added: "It was pure offensive football from both teams."

Goalkeepers Schlager and Hedl in the spotlight in the draw between Rapid Vienna and RB Salzburg

In addition, both goalkeepers stood out, especially after the break when Salzburg's Alexander Schlager made several brilliant saves. This prevented a complete turnaround by the Hütteldorfers, who had twice responded successfully to Salzburg's goals by Nicolas Capaldo (34.) and Dorgeles Nene (56.) with goals from Jonas Auer (48.) and Isak Jansson (74.). "He was like a cat, he played an incredible game," said Lijnders. "Only" Salzburg's goalie had thwarted several chances, Klauß also noted. However, the German could also be proud of Niklas Hedl.

The 23-year-old saved a penalty for the first time in his professional career (27.), ensuring that Oscar Gloukh, like on Wednesday against Hartberg, missed from the spot. The Israeli will not take part next time due to his poor performance. "I like to give players a second chance, they usually score then, but unfortunately he didn't. It's quite clear that he won't be shooting next time," the Dutchman explained. Gloukh usually finishes well in training. "But it's important to be there at the crucial moment."

Capaldo also on target against Rapid Vienna

His team, once again lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, was particularly so in the first half. Capaldo, who was again deployed as a right-back, scored for the fourth time in the last three games. "He helps the team enormously with his winning mentality and his drive forward. The way he finishes is incredible," Lijnders explained. Not only the goal was a highlight, the pressing and the joy of playing reminded of successful Red Bull times.

"It was a higher energy performance than last time, we combined really well, but we just have to finish it off. It's important for the future that we can deliver our performance against a team like Rapid for 95 minutes," Lijnders summed up. So it was only a "fair" draw, as all the players knew. Rapid was closer to the victory, which they had achieved in the first season duel with 3:2, especially thanks to Jansson, who was able to shine again on his comeback from the 61st minute.

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"Every player has his value, but he is a special player with his speed and his abilities in one-on-one situations," emphasized Klauß. In general, the substitutes brought "a lot of energy" into the game. It could not be prevented that only one of the last six league games was won. Klauß was less annoyed by the draw in Wals-Siezenheim in the fight for a top spot. "The table is meaningful, but we didn't lose the points today, but against teams that don't play at the top," the German stressed.

Most recently with a 0:0 at WSG Tirol and a 0:1 against Blau-Weiß Linz twice in a row. After 16 rounds and the winter break, the third-placed team is already eight points behind leader Sturm Graz. Salzburg has only won one of the last seven league games and is even worse off in fifth place, but can move up to within two points of Rapid with a win in the catch-up game against Austria Klagenfurt on December 14. "It won't be easy to catch up with Sturm, we simply have to win games now," demanded Capaldo.

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This task will be very difficult without the continued absence of Kamil Piatkowski on Tuesday, when Paris St. Germain is a guest in Salzburg for an important Champions League match for promotion. Capaldo expects a "hard piece of work", Amar Dedic is preparing for a "tough" opponent. "But we can take a lot of positives from the Rapid game, it's going in the right direction," said the full-back. This also applies to the Rapid players who are fully on course for promotion in the Conference League. There, Omonia Nicosia away and FC Copenhagen at home are still waiting in 2024 on Thursday.

"We were better than last time and created many chances. We take a lot of energy from the game and go into the games with a lot of courage and self-confidence," assured Seidl. And Hedl added: "Today, above all, the passion was right, we have to take that into the remaining two games." The league will then only continue in February 2025.

(APA/Red)

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