The Hanappi was turned into a cauldron passionate support for the teams matched by hostile berating of the oppostion, the soldout stadium was the perfect theatre for the drama that was about to unfold.It took a short while for both teams to get over the sense of occasion and begin playing free football but as the match gathered pace, all sense of caution was thrown to the wind. The cross city visitors had the clearer openings at the start of the first half but failed to take advantage. It was Austria, however, who broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute. Okotie found space in the channels and latched onto a through ball, stabbing home from close range. This was far from a terminal blow for the Green- Whites though and as the decibal level raised on the terraces, Rapid flooded forwards. "Jimmy" Hoffer could have levelled the match only a minute later but the home fans only had to wait until the 36th minute before the response came. Desperate defending from the besieged visitors saw Stefan Hofman´s effort blocked before the ball the ball was steered back into the penalty area. "Jimmy" Hoffer was on hand to score with an instinctive finish, cheekily back heeling the ball into the net, sparking wild celebrations in the crowd. Branko Boskovic was then presented with a golden opportunity following some attractive build up play down the left flank, but saw his effort narrowly spin the wrong side of the upright.After the interval Rapid pressed forwards, the visitors reeling on the back foot. A flowing Rapid move was ended as Schiemer crudely dragged down Boskovic in the penalty area, leaving referee Schörgenhofer with no option but to point at the spot. Playing the captain´s role, Steffen Hofmann showed the coolest head in the Hannapi Stadion as he sent the keeper the wrong way, calmly rolling home the spot kick home to send 15,000 green-white fans into Derby day delerium. Passion in the stands and on the terraces was leaking matched on the pitch as total commitment from both sides contributed to an extremely open match, with chances at both ends, fouls, free kicks and flowing football - as the atmopshere reached fever pitch.  Jürgen Patocka bagged a third for Rapid, smashing home from close range after confusion in the Austria box following a corner. The game still ebbed and flowed before Okotie handed Austria's second side a lifeline, Vollying home past Helge Payer, between the sticks for the 200th time in his Green- White career. Rapid were not about to let this game slip away though, and the scoreline not reflecting the gulf in quality between the two teams. In true testament to the way Rapid play football, rather than sitting on their lead they pushed on, looking for a killer fourth goal. The mercurial Maierhofer and substitute Jelavic both went close before the moment of the match. A beautiful cross field pass from Steffen Hofmann was met about 15 yards from goal on the volley by Jelavic with a spectacular scissor kick. The effort was superbly clawed away by visiting goalie Safar, denying the Croatian a sure fire contender for goal of the season.As the final whistle blew, emotional celebrations rang round the ground with the vast majority of the 15,000 home support staying long after the final whistle to celebrate with their heroes. Rapid had secured the capital cities bragging rights, once again confining their arch rivals to more time in the shadows. League postions and points go out of the window on these occasions, and, with a Rapid victory, Sunday was something really quite special.31th round:SK Rapid - FK Austria 3:2 (1:1)Goals: 0:1 Okotie (33.), 1:1 Hoffer (36.), 2:1 Hofmann (53./Penalty), 3:1 Patocka (62.), 3:2 Okotie (69.)Game statsPics(gw)
31.08.2015