An 8-0 Thriller in Vienna

Merciless! Unstoppable Rapid Players Demolish GAK

Rapid showed no mercy against GAK on Sunday!(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

What a furious performance by Rapid! In the third round of the domestic Bundesliga, the Hütteldorf side swept GAK out of the stadium with an 8-0 victory. Ercan Kara, with an early brace, and Tonni Adamsen, with four goals, became a nightmare for the Graz team. Rapid, on the other hand, was able to build up a healthy dose of confidence ahead of Thursday’s crucial Conference League qualifying match against Heart of Midlothian (starting at 8:45 p.m. on the sportkrone.at live ticker). 

SK Rapid remains on a winning streak thanks to an impressive performance against GAK. To wrap up the third round of the Bundesliga, Coach Johannes Hoff Thorup’s team crushed the Graz side 8-0 (5-0) in Vienna and has thus taken the top spot in the standings. The match was effectively decided after just a quarter of an hour thanks to a brace by Ercan Kara (5th, 12th) and Tonni Adamsen’s first Bundesliga goal (14th). The Dane finished the game with four goals.

The other goals were scored by Nenad Cvetkovic (42nd) and Yusuf Demir (56th). 17,651 fans at the Allianz Stadium celebrated the team’s eighth win in eight competitive matches—the biggest victory of the still-young season. At the same time, it was Rapid’s biggest league win in nearly 41 years; back then, the opponent was also GAK (10–0 on September 27, 1985). The Graz team, led by coach Ferdinand Feldhofer, put in a dismal performance and remains in the lower half of the standings with three points.

Rapid’s Strong Start
Coach Hoff Thorup fielded eight new players in the starting lineup compared to the European Cup match against Paide. Only goalkeeper Niklas Hedl, center back Cvetkovic, and midfielder Romeo Amane started again. For the Graz team, Dutch forward Anthony Smits made his first start. Petter Nosa Dahl made his presence felt just 50 seconds in, with his shot narrowly missing the goal of GAK goalkeeper Cican Stankovic.

Tonni Adamsen scored four goals.(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

It also marked the start of a “Rapid quarter-hour,” which this time came right at the beginning of the match. Shortly afterward, Kara was on hand to tap in the 1-0 goal after a shot by Matthias Seidl hit the post, with a little help from GAK defender Beres Owusu. At the other end, Peter Michorl squandered a chance to equalize off a pass from Smits (11th minute), which immediately came back to haunt him. Jannes Horn sent a cross to Kara, who headed it in to make it 2–0. Just two minutes later, Dahl found Adamsen, who simply had to tap the ball into the empty net. The goal was initially disallowed for an alleged offside, but the VAR overturned the call.

Rapid remained dominant
Against a Styrian defense that was playing carelessly, Dahl missed the chance to score the fourth goal (27th minute). Cvetkovic finally scored the fourth with a header off a cross from Seidl. In stoppage time, Seidl recorded his third assist: His cross found Adamsen, who was initially denied by Stankovic. But on the rebound, the Dane also scored his second goal. That’s how the first half ended; for Rapid, it was their largest halftime lead in the Bundesliga since their 6-1 (5-0) victory on November 21, 2015, in Mattersburg.

Feldhofer brought in two fresh legs for the second half—Daniel Maderner and Ismael Guerti—but it didn’t help. Rapid kept up the pressure. Stankovic made saves against Demir (52’) and Kara (54’), but ultimately had no chance against a powerful shot from Demir. Horn hit the crossbar with a fine outside-of-the-foot shot (74'). The ball, however, landed at Adamsen’s feet, who didn’t hesitate and once again demonstrated his goal-scoring prowess. The 31-year-old ultimately had the final say in the 8–0 victory (86').

Rapid now faces the first of two decisive matches for a spot in the Conference League group stage. On Thursday (8:45 p.m.), the Green-Whites will travel to Edinburgh for the first leg of the playoff against Heart of Midlothian. For GAK, the action continues a day later; on Friday (7:30 p.m.), the Athletiker will be away in Ried for a league match.