UECL R16: Superb Euro Louis Strike Sends Rapid to the Quarters

After last Thursday’s first leg in Banja Luka, the second leg was finely poised for SK Rapid and Borac in the UEFA Conference League Round of 16. Letting in a late goal meant that Robert Klauß’s team had to be content with a 1-1 draw despite dominating the away game, and under the floodlights of a sold-out stadium in Hütteldorf, it was important to take the positives from that performance, and advance to the Quarter-Final on Thursday evening. Louis Schaub wore the captain’s armband for the Green & Whites, as Dion Beljo, Isak Jansson and Niki Wurmbrand formed the front three.

Borac were banned from bringing away fans to Vienna, so it was an uninterrupted sea of Green and there was a cacophony of noise in support of Rapid, but that unfortunately couldn’t help to push the ball over the line just seconds into the game. Beljo’s shot was saved from point-blank range, before Jansson hit the bar in a frantic opening (1’). With the hosts in charge, Lukas Grgic saw his shot stopped by the keeper (11’), before heavy rain started to fall and the final passes into the box were sliding off the turf and beyond their intended targets. The Rapid pressure had not yet receded though, and after a quick break down the right flank, Bendi Bolla and Niki Wurmbrand combined well; both of them would get shots off from inside the area, but the two attempts were ultimately blocked as the bad luck before the goal continued (31’). That didn’t change soon after, when a clever corner kick routine involved a low pass across into a central position for Jansson, whose cleanly struck shot made the crossbar wobble, before a follow-up volley from Schaub cannoned off a defender and away (37’) and the guests clung on until half-time with the scores still level.

Rapid’s first-half momentum carried on into the second, and right from the restart a volley from Grgic was sliced narrowly over the bar (47’), before Niki Wurmbrand was the next player to hit the woodwork (49’) as the stadium began to wonder what the team would have to do to actually find the back of the net. A three-man breakaway on the hour mark led to the next massive chance, but after slaloming past two defenders, Wurmbrand forced the keeper into an excellent diving save (61’) but there were teammates open in the centre. As seems to be the script at the moment, Borac had a very rare foray forward, and former-WSG player Sandi Ogrinec scuffed a shot into the turf which bounced up into the top corner making it impossible for Nike Hedl to reach. The guests had their noses in front, and to say it was against the run of play was a gross underestimation (66’)!

However, Rapid had not given up. The team didn’t let their heads drop, and they didn’t allow Borac to settle on their lead, as Dion Beljo thankfully soon picked out the bottom corner with a daisy-cutter from outside the area (70’)! Finally, a chance for a long overdue celebration from the 23,000 strong crowd, and the Green & Whites were level again at 1-1 (2-2)! The game was there to be won once again, but efforts from Sangaré, Jansson and Oswald missed the target late on, and substitute Ercan Kara poked the ball agonisingly wide in stoppage time, and the tie would go to 30 minutes of extra time.

Straight from the off, Rapid kept their foot on the gas, and a double chance remarkably stayed out as Jansson and Beljo could only win corners for the Green & Whites (92’), but moments later the crowd would witness the return of “Euro Louis”! The ball came to Schaub on the right edge of the area, and he bent an unstoppable shot past the keeper’s dive and in (96’) to give Rapid a 2-1 lead! After that point, although the margin was slim, Borac never really looked like finding an equaliser, and so the Green & Whites held out for the victory, which was unquestionably the right result. 

Fotos: GEPA