Conference League
Rapid has a close call—but celebrates in the end!
Rapid kicked off the new season with a lackluster victory. The Hütteldorf-based team won the first leg of the Conference League’s second qualifying round 3-1 at FC Santa Coloma on Thursday.
Kronen Zeitung als bevorzugte Google-Quelle hinzufügen Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao (50'), Yusuf Demir (56'), and Moulaye Haidara (89') secured the victory for the Green-Whites in Andorra la Vella. The second leg will take place next Wednesday in Vienna. Before that, Rapid faces SV Wienerberg in the ÖFB Cup on Sunday.
For the Hütteldorf side, Tommi Adamsen, a new signing, started in the number 10 position in their first competitive match of the new season. Otherwise, Johannes Hoff Thorup largely relied on his regulars from last season. Nenad Cvetkovic and Raux-Yao formed the center-back duo, while captain Matthias Seidl and the highly sought-after Romeo Amane played in midfield, with Ercan Kara up front.
In front of about 350 green-and-white fans who had traveled with the team, Rapid took control right from the start. The ball circulated skillfully through their own ranks on unfamiliar turf—the Estadi Nacional has artificial turf—but they lacked the necessary precision in the final third. Rapid often created good scoring opportunities, but the final pass just wouldn’t connect. It wasn’t until the 38th minute that Adamsen created the first real threat with a long-range shot.
Three Goals in Six Minutes
Santa Coloma, which finished fourth in Andorra’s league last season, focused primarily on defense. Adria Arjona had the hosts’ only chance in the first half following a corner kick (24th minute). It wasn’t until after halftime that the game picked up pace. Raux-Yao headed a corner kick from Demir into the far corner to give Rapid the lead. But it didn’t last long. Arjona sent Pedra Munoz on a run, and the right winger remained ice-cold in a one-on-one with Niklas Hedl (54th minute).
Rapid, too, quickly shook off the shock. Just two minutes later, Demir put the Green-Whites back in front after a give-and-go with Seidl. Rapid’s defense didn’t always look solid in the minutes that followed, but Santa Coloma was unable to capitalize on it. Seidl hit the crossbar just before the start of Rapid’s “quarter-hour” (74th minute). Substitute Haidara scored the crucial third goal from close range (89th minute).
This gave Rapid a strong position heading into the second leg. If they advance, they’ll face either Paide Linnameeskond from Estonia or FK Zira from Azerbaijan. The Estonians won the first leg at home 1–0.
FC Santa Coloma – SK Rapid 1–3 (0–0)
Andorra la Vella, Estadi Nacional, Referee MacDermid (SCO)
Goals: 0–1 (50') Raux-Yao, 1–1 (54') Muñoz, 1–2 (56') Demir, 1–3 (89') Haidara
Santa Coloma: Alcaraz - Rasines, Padilla, Guti, Andrade – Barrenetxea (69. Abreu), M. Lopez, Arjona - Gomez (86. Villar), G. Lopez (62. Temenuzhkov), Munoz (69. Cabral)
Rapid: Hedl – Bolla, Cvetkovic, Raux-Yao (75. Schöller), Auer (80. Horn) – Amane (67' Bajlicz), Seidl – Demir, Adamsen (67' Haidara), Wurmbrand (67' Dahl) – Kara
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.