17,400 onlookers crammed into the Hanappi Stadium for the last home game of the season. Sturm Graz provided the oppostion for the Hütteldorfers, who sported their away kit to mark the last game. Patocka came into the heart of the back four in place of Eder, while Salihi resumed his partnership with Jelavic up front. Rapid had their first sight of goal in the 8th minute. Kulovits slid in Drazan, the wingers cross just eluding the lurking Jelavic in the middle of the box. Moments before Jantscher had tested Hedl with a sharp volley, the in form Rapid custodian was more than up to the job though and completed a routine save. The opening period was very pleasing on the eye, with both teams looking to get the ball down and knock it about the park, using the full width of the pitch. On 20 minutes neat link up play between Boskovic and Hofmann set up Salihi but Feldhofer intervened and the danger was cleared at the expense of a corner. Raimund Hedl collided with Lavric in the 25th minute. Despite looking initially injured the Rapid keeper was able to shake off the knock and continue between the posts. Hedl had recovered sufficiently to stand tall and deny former Rapid Trainee Kienast in the 37th minute. Despite being an attractive match it appeared to be heading towards a half time stalemate as Sturm Keeper Gratzei denied a useful looking Boskovic long range drive. On the Stroke of half time Jelavic broke clear of the Graz backline and rifled an effort goalwards that cannoned back of the crossbar. The ball was kept alive and came to Salihi. The Albanian hitman drilled a low left footed effort into the far corner of the net to hand Rapid the intiative going into half time. Rapid doubled their advantage on 57 minutes. Steffen Hofmann met the ball on the edge of the area and with a perfect low drive gave Gratzei no chance, bagging his 19th of the season. The goal simultaneously handed the little maestro top place in the Austrian scoring charts for the season. Almost instantly Graz got back into the game as referee Schörgenhofer adjudged Dober to have fouled Kienzl in the area. Kienast stepped up and made no mistake from the penalty spot. Any hopes the visitors harboured of a comeback were extinguished 6 minutes later by Hofmann. In a near carbon copy of his first, the Rapid Captain again beat Gratzei from distance to restore the Green-Whites two goal advantage. Twenty and counting now for the mercurial skipper. Rapid put the gloss on an excellent afternoons work by adding a fourth on 76 minutes. Confusion reigned over who got the final touch, as swinging Hofmann corner deceived Gratzei and found its way into the net. Replays suggested Jelavic got the final touch, and as with all good strikers, our marksman will be only too happy to accept the blame. There was a sour note though three minutes later though as Pehlivan pulled up with what looked to be a muscle strain and was replaced by Hannes Eder. An excellent result for Rapid coupled with results elsewhere gives the Hütteldorfers renewed hope that they can pull off an incredible championship victory. Pacults side must travel to Mattersburg on thursday and secure three points. If the games in Graz and Favoriten go their way, the record league holders could be celebrating yet another victory. On thing is for certain, drama will certainly unfold on thursday and there will be plenty of twists and turns yet to come.35th round: SK Rapid - SK Sturm 4:1 (1:0)Wien, Hanappi-Stadion, 17.400, Referee SchörgenhoferGoals: 1:0 Salihi (45.), 2:0 Hofmann (57.), 2:1 (61.) Kienast (61./Elfmeter), 3:1 Hofmann (66.), 4:1 Jelavic (76.) SK Rapid: Hedl - Dober, Soma, Patocka, Kulovits - Hofmann (90. Trimmel), Pehlivan (79. Eder), Boskovic, Drazan - Salihi (88. Gartler), JelavicSK Sturm: Gratzei - Lamotte, Feldhofer, Sonnleitner, Kandelaki - Salmutter (65. Beichler), Kienzl, M. Weber (81. Hlinka), Jantscher - Kienast, Lavric (82. Haas)Yellow Cards: Hedl, Dober, Pehlivan, Boskovic Jantscher (gw)
31.08.2015