Rapid Vienna came from behind after being reduced to 10 men to secure a 2-2 draw with Ajax in the first leg of their Champions League qualification tie at the Ernst Happel Stadium this evening.
The opening chance of the night fell to the home side following a quiet first 20 minutes, but Florian Kainz was denied by a Jasper Cillessen save after Steffen Hofmann set him up with a through-ball.
The Dutch side were ahead moments later though as Daley Sinkgraven curled the ball into the Vienna box, setting up Davy Klaassen for a finish on the turn to pick out the bottom corner.
Anwar El-Ghazi was involved in a couple of chances to double the lead for the visitors, but turned a Sinkgraven cross wide, before teeing up Nemanja Gudelj for a miss.
The Eredivisie side did make it two before the interval though as a high cross from Arkadiusz Milik allowed Klaassen to complete his brace moments before the half-time whistle, hammering the ball in from close range.
However, the Austrian side were back in the match just a couple of minutes after the restart as Robert Beric set up Kainz, finding his strike partner on the edge of the box, resulting in a low finish into the back of the net.
The hosts continued to look more confident as the second 45 minutes progressed, but their hopes of completing the comeback were dealt a blow when Stefan Schwab saw red for a knee-high two-footed challenge on Jairo Riedewald.
Despite being reduced to 10 men, Vienna still created chances, with Philipp Schobesberger bursting forward from midfield to win a corner before Thanos Petsos blasted the ball over.
Stefan Stangl had an opportunity to level the scores inside the final 20 minutes as he collected a pass through the middle just outside the box, before attempting to squeeze it under the crossbar, but Cillessen made a fingertip stop to keep the visitors in front.
The hosts did get their second a few minutes later though as Louis Schaub delivered the ball into the penalty area for Beric, giving the striker, who was the club's top scorer last season, a simple finish from close range.
Ajax came close to winning it late on when Riechedly Bazoer attempted an ambitious 25-yard shot, but Jan Novota got across his goal to make the save at the far post.
Viktor Fischer also called the Vienna keeper into action in stoppage time, but Novota was quickly off his line to make sure the hosts held on for a draw.
Sian Cowper
