The pressure was on the Green Whites coming into this game. The midweek Cup exit coupled with Salzburg's friday victory meant that nothing less than a home maximum would suffice. An expectant crowd of 15,400 Rapid fans were in attendance and in full voice to help push Pacult's team over the finish line.The game started at a relatively calm pace. The visitors from Carinthia looked to keep solid in the middle of the defence, sitting very deep and offering lots of proctection to the centre halves. The opening quarter of an hour saw the best chances coming from Rapid probing down the wings. Hannes Eder diverted a header just wide after getting on the end of an Andi Dober cross, while Thonhofer's cross from the opposite flank found Jelavic, the Croatian marksman failing to keep his effort down.Despite the visitors best efforts, Rapid broke the deadlock in the 27th minute. Christopher Trimmel dropped his shoulder and showed quick feet as he glided past a couple of Kärnten defenders. The make shift forward laid the ball back invitingly for Steffen Hofmann who met the ball first time and sent a rasping shot into the bottom corner of Schranz' goal from fully 25 yards. It was a sensational strike and just the tonic for the Hanappi, the sense of relief palpable from all corners of the stadium.Trimmel had a chance to extend the lead in the 38th minute, getting on the end of a Boskovic cross, but his header from 5 yards drew an excellent reaction save from Schranz.The second half got under way at much the same tempo as the first. Trimmel received the ball with his back to goal and with a cute turn manufactured a shooting opportunity that was snaffled by the busy Schranz in the 53rd minute. Just a minute later Trimmel again had an opportunity following a flowing move. An intelligent Pehlivan dummy saw Boskovic receive possesion and slide Trimmel through on goal. His left foot effort krept agonisingly wide.On 61 minutes Kärnten issued a threat of their own, having a goal dissallowed following pushing at a corner. Hofmann responded by nearly sending a long range free kick into the bottom corner. Wing wizard Drazan, introduced for Pehlivan, then made his presence felt with a string of excellent crosses as Rapid put the away side under a spell of intense pressure.On 70 minutes Austria Kärnten showed why one goal is always a precarious lead, Pustzai's looping header coming back off the cross bar before a good effort from Salvatore flashed just wide.Hofmann and Salihi had further opportunites to seal the game but it was to remain 1 - 0 at the final whistle. A sour note was struck in the 82nd minute, however, as Markus Heikinnen received a straight red for an alleged stamp on Pustzai. Despite looking innocuous, the Finnish midfield man will now face a suspension in the coming weeks as the season builds up towards it's climax.28th Round:SK Rapid - Austria Kärnten 1:0 (1:0)Hanappi-Stadion, 15.800, Ref. EisnerGoal: 1:0 Hofmann (27.)SK Rapid: Hedl - Dober, Eder, Soma, Thonhofer - Hofmann, Heikkinen, Pehlivan (60. Drazan), Boskovic - Trimmel (68. Salihi/86. Patocka), JelavicA. Kärnten: Schranz - Sollbauer, Elsner, Gramann, Salvatore - Pusztai, Wrienz - Pucker, Hierländer, Kaufmann - Aleksic (87. Schimmel)Red Card: Heikkinen (82.):Yellow Cards: Hedl Salvatore(gw)
31.08.2015