Football: Own Goal Prevents Rapid Victory Against Zrinjski
Rapid earned their first point in the sixth and final game of the league phase in the Football Conference League, but missed out on a victory practically at the last minute. The Hütteldorf team achieved a 1-1 draw at Zrinjski Mostar on Thursday, finishing the competition in 36th and last place. "Euro-Louis" Schaub put Green-White ahead in the eleventh minute, the 1-1 in the 93rd minute resulted from an own goal by Nenad Cvetkovic.
Early Lead for Rapid
Thus, Rapid goes into the winter break after seven winless matches. Initially, things looked good. The Viennese survived a scare after 78 seconds - Niklas Hedl defused a volley from Nemanja Biblija with a strong save - and soon took the lead.
The goal for Rapid was the result of the best action by the visitors in the entire game. Nikolaus Wurmbrand prevailed against two opponents and passed to Romeo Amane, who set up Furkan Demir on the right wing. The precise cross from the 21-year-old was converted by Schaub with a spectacular header via the inside post. It was already the 30-year-old's 20th European Cup goal for Rapid.
However, the lead could not have a liberating effect on Rapid, quite the opposite: Zrinjski became stronger, and Rapid's back four, with an average age of 20.5 years, often found themselves in trouble. It became particularly dangerous in the 32nd minute when Ivancic curled the ball relatively close to the goal. Additionally, Duje Dujmovic headed directly at Hedl from close range just before the halftime whistle.
Zrinjski in the Play-off
At halftime, Tobias Gulliksen, the replacement for the suspended Matthias Seidl, remained in the locker room. Jonas Auer came in for the ineffective record signing, and Rapid switched to a back three. However, the Hütteldorf team did not initially find their way into the game, as the Bosnians dictated the match and repeatedly penetrated the penalty area, but the compelling scoring opportunities were lacking.
After about 70 minutes, Rapid managed to keep the opponent further away from the goal and become proactive themselves - substitute Claudy Mbuyi hit the side netting in the 73rd minute. Defensively, the Viennese were no longer really in danger for a long time, nothing indicated an equalizer for Zrinjski - until the substituted Cvetkovic steered the ball into his own net after a cross from Karlo Abramovic. Thus, Zrinjski made it into the play-off.
(APA/Red)
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