125 JAHRE SK RAPID
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12.11.2018
Bundesliga

Late drama denies Hütteldorfers a point

Carinthia was again the destination for the Rapid team bus on Sunday, as the Hütteldorfers returned to the scene of their recent 3:0 victory in the UNIQA ÖFB Cup to take on WAC this time in the league. Unbeaten in four matches, the Green & Whites were seeking a repeat of their sterling performance last time out in the Lavantthal Arena to rubber stamp their recent improvement in performances and results before heading into the international break. Defensive stalwart Mario Sonnleitner was missing for Rapid: the influential centre back absent owing to illness. Mert Müldür was installed in the starting line-up alongside Christopher Dibon, whilst Sonnleitner's absence also provided opportunity for Leo Greiml: the young centre half from the reserves was handed a taste of first team action by Didi Kühbauer with a place on the bench. Alongside Greiml was the more familiar face of Philipp Schobesberger, who was available for selection for the first time since May after recovering from a hip operation.

After producing lively openings in recent outings, Kühbauer will have been disappointed to see his side start sluggishly: a Liendl free-kick into the Rapid box looked dangerous (5.), before Schmerböck managed to miss a free header with the Green & Whites still to properly wake up and get into the game (6.). With Wolfsberg failing to capitalise on their early chances, the match settled down in a midfield tussle, from which Andrei Ivan soon had to depart after picking up a thigh injury. In his place came Veton Berisha.

The game took a while to warm-up, but around the half-hour mark it burst into life: Richard Strebinger pulled off a tremendous save from an Orgill header (29.) before the deadlock was broken: a flowing passing move was rounded off with a slightly scruffy finish by Thomas Murg, who profited from an excellent cross from substitute Veton Berisha - 1:0 (37.)! Berisha then passed up an opportunity to get his own name on the scoresheet, finding the side netting from an inviting shooting position (44.). There was still time for a major scare before the half time whistle, when Orgill missed two glorious chances to equalise: The WAC man was denied in a 1-on-1 by Strebinger, before the Rapid keeper nearly turned from hero to villain when got a back-pass all wrong, handing the ball to Orgill who managed to miss an open goal and hit the post instead (45.)! It was a shaky few minutes, but Rapid had made it to break with their lead intact.

Half-time did little to help the Hütteldorfers though, as just twenty seconds after the restart Orgill atoned for his prior profligacy, heading home a simple chance from a cross - 1:1 (46.). Following the goal, the tempo again tailed off, with a couple of half chances created for Schmerböck and Orgill by the hosts the best either side could must (66.). An off target long shot from Murg was the first attempt registered by the Hütteldorfers in the second period (67.). It was Murg's final contribution of the afternoon, with Philipp Schobesberger coming off the bench to make his long-awaited comeback (70.).

Yet despite not creating much, Veton Berisha could've put Rapid back into the lead but the Norwegian drove his angled shot past the far post after a swift counter (72.). The game began to open up and swing from end to end as Leitgeb promptly headed wide for WAC at the other end of the pitch (73.). Schmerböck then rattled the frame of Richard Strebinger's goal with a thumping shot as Wolfsberg began looking the more likely to snatch the win (76.), a feeling that only continued to grow when Liendl headed an inviting cross over the bar (80.). Finally, the pressure told: Marvin Potzmann was penalised for holding in the box, Liendl stepped up and converted the resulting penalty to make it 1:2. Liendl added a third deep into injury time to compound a wretched close to the game for Rapid - 1:3 (95.). It was a desperately disappointing way to sign-off before the international break, from which the Green & Whites will hopefully return refreshed and ready to push on up the league.

(gw)

tipico Bundesliga, 14th round:
WAC - SK Rapid 3:1 (0:1)
Lavanttal-Arena, 5.800 Attendance, Ref Ciochirca

Goals: 0:1 Murg (37.), 1:1 Orgill (46.), 2:1 Liendl (90.+3/Elfmeter), 3:1 Liendl (90.+5);

WAC: Kofler – Novak, Sollbauer, Rnic, Schmitz – Wernitznig (86. G. Nutz), M. Leitgeb, Liendl, Ritzmaier – Orgill (89. Gschweidl), Schmerböck;

SK Rapid: Strebinger – Potzmann, Müldür, Dibon, Bolingoli – D. Ljubicic, Schwab – Murg (69. Schobesberger), Knasmüllner (82. Martic), Ivan (27. Ve. Berisha) – Pavlovic;

Yellow Cards: Liendl; Müldür