Rapid labours to away win in Andorra

Rapid wins the first leg of the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round 3-1 against FC Santa Coloma.

The new season starts tough for SK Rapid. While they clearly dominated possession and controlled the game from the outset, penalty area action or even goal chances remained rare for a long time.

After 45 minutes, it was still 0-0, no surprise given not a single shot on goal from either side.

The second half presented a completely different picture; things finally started to happen. Rapid soon took the lead, with Raux-Yao heading a Demir corner into the net, scoring Rapid's first competitive goal of the new season (50th minute).

However, Santa Coloma immediately responded to the Hütteldorf side's lead: Munoz was sent through with a long ball behind the Rapid defense, Hedl hesitated coming off his line, and Munoz was able to beat the Rapid keeper to level the score at 1-1 (54th minute).

Demir Strikes Back for Rapid

Despite this setback, Rapid did not let their heads drop; the Hütteldorf side immediately responded to the goal. Seidl played Demir through in the penalty area, where he beat two defenders and then coolly finished into the corner. It was 1-2; Rapid was back in front less than two minutes after the equalizer.

Even with the lead, Rapid's defense proved vulnerable; "Kun" Mihaylov Temenushkov had a free shot in the 71st minute, and shortly after, substitute Rodriguez fired the ball just over the crossbar from the edge of the box.

Only just before the end did Rapid finally secure the victory. Dahl, alone in front of goalkeeper Alcaraz, laid the ball off for Haidara, and the young striker scored his first professional goal to make it 1-3 (89th minute).

The return leg will take place on Wednesday evening.