Good performance without points: "Rapid is 6 months ahead of us"

On Friday evening, two good runs came to an end for TSV Hartberg: Against SK Rapid, they suffered their first defeat in two months, and for the first time in three encounters, they failed to get any points against the Hütteldorfers.

Not much was missing, however, to prolong their status as a bogey team. Hartberg came out with a good game plan, wanted to compete, and did so very respectably until the final third.

A narrowly disallowed offside goal by Marco Hoffmann for the supposed equalizer after 14 minutes caused commotion and was debatable, but strikingly reminded of a past encounter between the two teams, in which a goal after a similarly tight decision against Matthias Seidl was not given.

An "Interesting game" remained

The 1-2 scored by Magnus Dalpiaz after the restart also brought the visitors back into the game for a long time, but this time Rapid did not buckle. A fact that was also referred to by the Viennese as progress from the past >>>.

Mixed feelings were the logical consequence. "Until it was 3-1, we always felt we could still turn the game in our favour. What remains is an interesting game with a winner who, for me, is simply very good at the moment," Markus Schopp had to admit.

Drawing lessons and growing from them is what's called for. Many young players also played for the first time in front of a crowd like the more than 20,000 spectators at the Allianz Stadion.

Too many personnel changes

While Rapid has been working with Johannes Hoff Thorup since winter and currently represents "the best team in Austria" according to Schopp, their own journey began in the summer and required many changes.

"We lost too many players who were predestined for a counter-attacking game. I'm starting at the back with Hülsmann, who, at two meters tall, was a factor in all long balls. I lost Heil, and temporarily Fridrikas and Wilfinger. We had to change many things. On the other hand, I see the potential we still have."

The next goal must be to unleash our potential and to get points in such games again. For that, there are primarily individual issues to work on: "Rapid is simply six months ahead of us there."

For example, in defensive behaviour during the first two conceded goals, but also on the other side of the field. As well as Hartberg could hold its own in midfield, deep runs were lacking to create more danger: Apart from the goal and the disallowed offside goal, chances were rare.

"But I have a lot of imagination and ideas on how we can further develop the team. I'm already looking forward to the analysis and the next training session because the boys are so hungry," Schopp promised.