The visitors started strongly and almost took the lead in the seventh minute, but Feli Meulu’s shot, substitute for injured captain Guido Bergstaller, bounced off the crossbar and came back into the ground. Rapid also became dangerous in the 15th minute – Marco Gruel finished from close range after a one-two with Mathias Seidl, but shot over the goal.
At this stage, the Rapid team practically did not let Fiorentina into themselves, they were always ready for the offensive and were extremely stable on defense. However, as the first half progressed, the tables turned. Last season’s finalists turned up the pressure, the Viennese becoming more prone to errors and having their goalkeeper to thank for the first time in the 29th minute. M’Bala Nzola single-handedly ran towards Niklas Hedal, but the OFB International was the winner.
Seven minutes later, Heald saved Nazzola’s effort from a tight angle. In the 38th minute, the Rapid goalkeeper could have been beaten, but Christian Coume’s shot went wide of the bar.
Rapid went into the break without conceding a goal and seemed to have regained their composure after the break. Meulu made a solo run towards the Fiorentina goal, but missed the near corner (54′). The striker then put the green-whites ahead when he curled the ball straight into the arms of keeper Pietro Terraciano (56′) from a good position after preparation from Gruel and Seidl.
The penalty for this came three minutes later. Cristiano Biraghi played the ball up the middle, where Jonas Auer, unchallenged, shot over Heald with a completely unsuccessful save effort. The ball fell to Gonzalez, who simply had to push it in. Rapid faltered – Maximilian Hoffmann saved at extreme range from “Joker” Lucas Beltrán as he prepared to shoot (67th), Rolando Mandragora fired a long-range shot against the crossbar (75th) and Alfred Duncan finished When done, the handle was on the post. (77th). ,
Eventually the Rapid was phased out. Fabiano Parisi, who had recently been substituted, hit Nicolas Sattelberger in the shoulder and upper arm area from close range in the penalty area, Serbian referee Novak Simovic awarded the penalty and Gonzalez scored safely.
After a hard-fought European Cup, LASK is in the group stage of the Europa League. On Thursday, after a 2-1 win in the first leg at Bosnian football champions Zrinjski Mostar, the Linz team secured promotion to the second biggest European competition with a 1-1 (0-1) draw in the play-off second leg. achieved. After a one-year break, the Upper Austrians are back in the group stage and can expect an entry fee of 3.63 million euros.
Zrinjski Mostar is the first Bosnian club to join the group stage, but has to join the Conference League. The Bosnian record champions took the lead thanks to a controversial penalty kick by striker Nemanja Bilbija (38th). However, Branko Jovicic managed to equalize with a long-range shot from the inside bar (52nd).
This is the fourth time in the last five seasons that LASK have been able to prove themselves in a European group. Which opponent awaits coach Thomas Segeder’s team will be decided at the draw in Monaco on Friday (1pm). Big names in European football like Liverpool, AS Roma, West Ham United and Bayer Leverkusen await. LASK is drawn from Pot 2, with runner-up Sturm Graz from Pot 3.
