Away Issues Persist in Hartberg Defeat

Having drawn away from home against Borac Banja Luka on Thursday evening, SK Rapid were on the road again on Sunday, this time facing TSV Hartberg in Eastern Styria. Head coach Robert Klauß made five changes to his starting line-up from the mid-week match, as Benjamin Böckle replaced Jonas Auer at full-back, Tobias Børkeeiet came in for Lukas Grgic in midfield, and captain Matthias Seidl was back in the team, alongside Isak Jansson, scorer of two goals in last weekend’s win.

Due to clashes which appeared to escalate between away fans and the local police, kick-off unfortunately had to be delayed by 45 minutes. When the game did get going, the opening phase brought plenty of Rapid possession, but only a few blocked shots to show for it. A quarter of an hour in, Dion Beljo went to ground in the box, but although he was caught by an arm in the face, the officials didn’t deem the incident worthy of a penalty (16’). Benni Böckle found room on the corner of the Hartberg box soon after, opting to go for goal himself, but his precise low shot was parried well by home keeper Sallinger (18’). Sangaré then missed a chance to play Beljo in on goal as his pass lacked a touch of accuracy with the half-hour mark approaching, and by this point, neither side had really looked like scoring. That would change a little in the closing stages of the first half. Mama Sangaré saw a good shot from the edge of the box deflected just wide of the Hartberg goal (37’), but the home side then had the game’s biggest chance. A corner kick was flicked-on towards the far post, where Huskovic side-footed a close-range volley, luckily for Rapid he found only the outside of Niki Hedl’s net (41’). Five minutes later, the teams would go in at the break with the score at 0-0, and with just one shot on target per team, it was fair to assume that the delayed start and a secondary warm-up had not helped the teams to fire on all-cylinders from the start.

At the start of the second half, Robert Klauß put in youngster Nikolaus Wurmbrand for Louis Schaub, before another substitution had to be made four minutes later due to injury. Jakob Schöller left the pitch with an injury, meaning that Ange Ahoussou made his Bundesliga debut. While the change was being readied, a shot on target bobbled away from the grasp of Niki Hedl, and landed kindly for Hartberg’s Elias Havel, who dinked the ball over the keeper and in for 1-0 (49’). A bitter beginning to the half, and unfortunately the guests were unable to quickly turn the tide, so when the hosts sent in an inch-perfect cross, Huskovic could turn the ball in for 2-0 (74’). Suddenly, Rapid found the extra gear that had been sorely missing, and Jansson broke away down the left and lashed in a shot which bulged the roof of the net (84’). 2-1 now, and we were back in the contest! Soon after, a delivery into the box would be headed home by Ercan Kara who rose highest (88’). Celebrations were cut short though, as the officials decided upon a very tight offside call against our striker, and in the end the second goal did not come our way.

As a result, Rapid slipped to a third away loss of 2025, and now after the home game against Borac, we’ll face a finale for a spot in the Championship Group when we take on GAK in Hütteldorf next Sunday.

Fotos: GEPA