Jubilant mood at Austria. © APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER / TOBIAS STEINMAURER

In the 347th derby: Austria inflicts Rapid's first defeat of the season

Austria Wien won the 347th Vienna derby at the Allianz Stadium 3-1, handing Rapid Vienna their first domestic defeat of the season. This leaves the Violets in fifth place, while Rapid Vienna leads the table just two points ahead of Sturm Graz.

September 28, 2025

From: apa

In the last derby without away fans, the Green-Whites, buoyed by 26.000 fans, started with a strong performance. Mbuyi had a great chance to take the lead in the fourth minute, but was denied by Austria goalkeeper Samuel Sahin-Radlinger on a counterattack following a pass from Nikolaus Wurmbrand.

The visitors needed about ten minutes to break somewhat of the grip and made their first offensive appearance with a shot from Botic that was parried by Niklas Hedl (14th minute). The ball remained mostly in Rapid's ranks after that, but they had little to do with it – they only became dangerous when spaces opened up, as was the case with Andrija Radulovic's chance that was saved by Sahin-Radlinger (22nd minute).

Lee scored from transition

Almost immediately, Austria Vienna capitalized on a counterattack. Johannes Eggestein played Lee free, Wurmbrand stumbled in an attempt to clear, and the South Korean slotted a clean shot into the far corner. The goal was initially ruled out for offside, but was correctly allowed after VAR intervention. After that, the Hütteldorfers only created dangerous situations until halftime with high balls into the box. A header from Mbuyi flew over the bar (31'), and Sahin-Radlinger was on hand to deny another header from the striker (36').

Austria celebrates its fourth consecutive victory. © APA / TOBIAS STEINMAURER

The second half began just as Rapid had hoped. Wurmbrand was brought down in the penalty area after contact with Barry, and Mbuyi converted the resulting penalty. The cheers in the stadium had barely died down when the score was 2-1 to Austria Wien. The home side, apparently still euphoric from the equalizer and therefore lacking concentration, allowed their arch-rivals to launch an attack. Barry, after an Eggestein pass, shot into the near post in the box, and Hedl was only able to clear the ball off the line.

Barry scores and assists after penalty foul

Barry's next big moment came in the 59th minute. The Gambian broke away down the right and played a looping ball into the middle, which the completely unmarked Botic effortlessly converted for his first league goal. Rapid seemed stunned and were even lucky not to fall further behind – Sanel Saljic narrowly missed the far corner (68th).

Abubakr Barry shone with a goal and an assist © APA / TOBIAS STEINMAURER

When Philipp Wiesinger was shown the red card for a goal-robbing foul on Janis Antiste (73'), there was a brief glimmer of hope in the Rapid camp. But Sahin-Radlinger tamed the resulting free kick from Bendeguz Bolla and didn't have to save another difficult ball after that. Rapid couldn't put the ball in the net, making a false start to a challenging week that includes an away game against Lech Poznan in the Conference League on Thursday and a league game against Red Bull Salzburg on Sunday.