Rapid took to the field with an unfamiliar looking line up. Peter Pacult was missing Veli Kavlak through suspension and captain Steffen Hofmann finally succumbed to a long standing shin problem. Markus Heikkinen filled in as skipper while Saurer and Trimmel came in for the missing midfield duo. Rapid loanee Thonhofer lined up for Peter Schöttel's side in what promised to be a keenly contested affair.The game got off to a scrappy start. Early highlights included a ninth minute free kick for the hosts which was comfortably dealt with by Hedl before Saurer fired in a cross that was too hard for Salihi to control despite being in a promising position. The first moment of quality arrived in the 20th minute as Heikkinen took possesion of the ball and drove deep into the opposition half. The fin threaded a great ball into Atdhe Nuhiu (on as a 14th minute sub for the injured Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink) whose dangerous looking cross was cut out for a corner. Saurer took the resulting set piece in the absence of Hofmann, and put a teasing ball into the box after playing a quick 1-2. Markus Katzer met the cross first time with a thunderous right foot volley that flew into the roof of the net to hand Rapid the lead. It was the first sight of goal for either side and put to maximum effect by Rapid's adventurous full back. Unfortunately the lead was short lived, Aigner levelled form the penalty spot following a Kayhan foul, the Rapid defender received a yellow card for his troubles. The equaliser signalled the start of a midfield battle with little goalmouth action. Yasin Pehlivan did his best to arrest the slump five minutes before the pause, bursting into the hosts' box and drawing a good save from the home keeper.Both sides emerged unchanged for the restart. Pacult's options were however limited somewhat just five minutes later as Kayhan received a second yellow for a horror challenge that could have warranted a straight red. For the second time in two games, Rapid were forced to play a large portion of a match with only ten men. Yellow cards were being distributed with regularity by the over fussy match official in a very stop start affair, as the game got bogged down and lacked any real quality or rythmn. Wolf had a glorious chance for the Lower Austrians on 62 minutes, but waited and waited allowing Markus Katzer to get back and take the ball off his toe as he pulled the trigger when well placed inside the Rapid box. Ten minutes later, Wiener Neustadt had another golden opportunity, but substitute Sadovic sliced his effort wide from 10 yards with the goal at his mercy. Pacult brought Drazan on for Salihi and in the dying embers introduced Gartler for the off colour Nuhiu, but Rapid threat still failed to materialise. The last action of note saw home winger Wolf depart for an early bath. The tall wideman picked up a second yellow after cynically ending a Rapid counter attack with a foul on Pehlivan. The whistle went and ended an uninspiring afternoon, but a useful point none the less for the Green Whites given the circumstances.  12th round:Wiener Neustadt - SK Rapid 1:1 (1:1)Stadion Wiener Neustadt, 7.100, Referee PrammerGoals: 0:1 Katzer (22.), 1:1 Aigner (26./Elfmeter)Wiener Neustadt: Fornezzi - Thonhofer, Kostal, Ramsebner, A. Schicker - P. Wolf, Grünwald, Kolousek (91. Stanislaw), Reiter (57. G. Burgstaller), Simkovic - Aigner (65. Sadovic)SK Rapid: Hedl - Kayhan, Sonnleitner, Soma, Katzer - Trimmel, Heikkinen, Pehlivan, Saurer - Vennegoor of Hesselink (15. Nuhiu/87. Gartler), Salihi (68. Drazan)Yellow/Red Card: Wolf (86.) Kayhan (51.)Yellow Cards: Thonhofer, Aigner, Schicker Salihi(gw)
31.08.2015