THE RAPID DECLINE
Celtic blow their lead three times as Ange’s charges fail to hold out
Celtic made a Rapid start but were caught at the death in the Allianz Stadium.
The Hoops were 3-2 up and rode their luck a few times before Emmanuel Aiwu netted with the last touch of the ball to give Rapid Vienna a late home draw.
Matt O’Riley, David Turnbull and Kyogo Furuhashi got the goals for the Scottish champions with Bernhard Zimmermann, Rene Kriwak and Aiwu ensuring a share of the spoils.
The Hoops signed off the Austrian leg of their tour with this draw and will now head to Czech Republic to take on Banik Ostrava on Wednesday night.
Ange Postecoglou was able to change the majority of his squad and give 21 players a run out. The capital side were also further advanced with their pre-season programme.
They had already been back two weeks and this was their fourth game.
There is history between these two clubs who share green and white home colours.
Bad blood abounds but this was a slightly friendlier affair compared to their European Cup Winners’ Cup clashes of 1984.
Celtic won the tie but the antics of an Austrian player who 3 3 made out, wrongly, he had been hit by a bottle meant a replay was ordered at Old Trafford.
That was another ill-tempered affair that Rapid managed to come through and get to the final, where they lost to Everton.
The two teams met again in the Europa League in 2009 but both games ended in draws.
Around 70 fans were in the away section behind the goals although there were others also dotted around the 9,400 crowd.
Celtic had thrashed third-tier side Wiener Viktoria 7- 0 in midweek with a mix of first-team and fringe players.
This was an unquestionable step up against a team from the Austrian Bundesliga, although Rapid certainly weren’t the team they had been in the past.
They finished a disappointing fifth last season some way behind champions Red Bull Salzburg.
There were only four Celtic players who started in both matches. They were Joe Hart, Osaze Urhoghide, new signing Alexandro Bernabei and Reo Hatate.
Postecoglou brought back a number of his international players for their first outing.
It was close to a first- choice team, although Carl Starfelt and Josip Juranovic missed out through injury, while Liel Abada and Furuhashi were left on the bench.
Injuries to Anthony Ralston and Juranovic meant another rare run- out for Urhoghide at right-back.
The early pre- season had all been about Celtic’s passing and moving and that practice certainly paid off.
Summer signing Jota had an early shot saved before he turned creator for the opener.
Daizen Maeda’s deep cross was knocked inside by the winger for O’Riley to smash the ball low into the far corner of the net from just outside the box.
The home fans were unhappy and made their feelings known to their team, who responded.
Hart was called into action to make a decent stop from Guido Burgstaller and minutes later he had to surpass that to keep out Nicolas Kuhn.
The Englishman looked to have been encouraged to come out of his goal and at times was employed as a sweeper keeper or as an additional defender.
Celtic’s passing game caused their own downfall, however, on the half-hour.
Cameron Carter-Vickers overhit his pass back and Hart didn’t deal with it quickly enough, Ante Basic was able to slide in and win the ball and square it for an easy tap in for Zimmermann.
Without a number of their bighitters, the Celtic defence looked uncomfortable in the first period.
That included new Argentine signing Bernabei who struggled at left- back compared to his opening midweek offering, with Rapid getting a lot of joy down their right flank.
Postecoglou changed his entire team in the second half with the exception of Urhoghide as he had nobody else for right-back.
It meant all of Celtic’s firstteam regulars, if they were fit, had got some game time over the first two games.
The new Celtic team re-established themselves in this game and took the lead before the hour.
David Turnbull’s long ball over the top allowed Kyogo to put in a great low cross that managed to slot under Niklas Hedl.
Rapid didn’t waste any time in levelling. Some poor marking saw sub Marco Grull’s header saved by Scott Bain but fellow replacement Kriwak netted.
Rapid were equa l ly as generous.
Turnbull stole possession from a defender and put it into the box where Kyogo held off his defender and then slot ted it past the Austrian keeper in the 65th minute.
Bain made another fine stop to push Moritz Oswald and in the next attack Christopher Dibon rattled the bar with a shot.
Grull then missed a sitter and a f ine Urhoghide challenge denied him late on, but Aiwu rose highest to nod in a corner to square things up at the finish.