Scoreless Draw Between Rapid Vienna and Altach

In front of 19,668 spectators at the Allianz Stadium, both teams reached a 0:0, leaving them with seven points along with Salzburg and WSG Tirol. Ercan Kara missed a penalty for Rapid in injury time, which Altach goalkeeper Dejan Stojanovic saved. There was dissatisfaction among the Hütteldorfers during the dress rehearsal for the Conference League play-off first leg against ETO Györ. Defender Jean Marcelin had to leave the game early due to a thigh injury. In Hungary, coach Peter Stöger's team is striving for a good starting position to advance to the league phase. The series of seven clean-sheet victories ended in the duel against Altach.

Three Changes in Rapid Vienna Starting Lineup Against Altach

Compared to the European Cup thriller at Dundee United in Scotland on Thursday, Stöger made three changes in the starting lineup. Marcelin in central defense, Andrija Radulovic on the wing, and Kara in attack were given new opportunities. Nenad Cvetkovic and Matthias Seidl were on the bench, Dominik Weixelbraun was not in the squad. Altach had no reason to change anything after the 1:0 against Ried.

The Vorarlbergers also appeared fresher in the early stages and pressed for an early lead. Goalkeeper Niklas Hedl had no trouble with a shot from former Rapid player Patrick Greil (6th minute), but had to excel shortly after with a header from Ousmane Diawara (7th minute). The Viennese also had two dangerous moments: Petter Nosa Dahl did not hit the ball properly in the penalty area (11th minute), and a header from Paul Koller almost ended up in his own goal during a clearance (12th minute).

Two Offside Goals by Rapid Vienna Disallowed

Koller cleared dangerously in his own penalty area once again (35th minute). Both times Bendeguz Bolla had crossed. By that time, there was not as much fire and pace in the game as in the first quarter of an hour. In injury time, the Rapid players celebrated the 1:0 too early. After a Nosa through ball, Janis Antiste impressively lobbed over Altach's Stojanovic, but he was slightly offside beforehand (45+4).

After the restart, a similar scene followed, this time Kara scored from an offside position after an Antiste pass (56th minute). Immediately after, Kara narrowly missed a Bolla cross in the middle, and at the far post, Nosa couldn't head the ball into the goal (57th minute). In the final phase, there was a real surge of momentum. Hedl was able to parry a shot from Alexander Gorgon, who had just been substituted (81st minute). But Rapid was closer to the "lucky punch." A header from Kara missed the goal (82nd minute), and Stojanovic reacted brilliantly to a long-range shot from the striker (84th minute).

In injury time, Mohamed Ouedraogo unfortunately hit Rapid's "joker" Claudy Mbuyi in the penalty area, but Kara missed the match ball from the penalty spot. As a result, the Viennese failed to win the first three league season games for the first time since 2015/16. However, they remain unbeaten under new coach Stöger in all competitions.

(APA/Red)

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