The early signs were good: Beautiful warm weather, a motivated Rapid, an excellent turn out in the Ernst Happel Stadium. The game got off to a good start with both teams playing some decent stuff on the floor. It was impossible to imagine what would come next.The afternoon began to unravel as early as the 15th minute when Barazite gave the Violets the lead from 16 meters. Rapid looked to have recovered from the early blow though, and despite efforts from crosses, and in particular a good attempt from Alar, clear cut opportunities to restore parity remained elusive. The threat of disaster manifested itself in the second half: Junuzovic doubled the visitors advantage in the 52nd minute after what can only be described, unfortunately, as a lovely piece of build up play. Roland Linz made it three with still over 25 minutes to play, extinguishing any lingering hopes of mounting a comeback. Salt was rubbed into the wounds shortly after as Boris Prokopic received a red card and Rapid were forced to see the game out a man light. A very bitter defeat for us that serves to highlight the work that lies ahead for the new management team. tipp3-Bundesliga, fifth round:SK Rapid - Austria 0:3 (0:1)Happel-Stadium, 31.800, Referee GrobelnikGoals: 0:1 (15.) Barazite, 0:2 (52.) Junuzovic, 0:3 (66.) LinzSK Rapid: Payer - Schimpelsberger, Sonnleitner, Soma, Schrammel - Hofmann (71. Trimmel), Kulovits (46. Drazan), Pichler, Prokopic - Nuhiu (72. Heikkinen), AlarAustria: P. Grünwald - Klein, Margreitter, Ortlechner, Suttner - Hlinka, A. Grünwald (70. Mader) - Barazite (75. Stankovic), Jun (84. Liendl), Junuzovic - LinzRed Card: Prokopic (86., Foul)Yellow Card: Alar, Pichler, Heikkinen Suttner, Barazite, Stankovic(gw)
23.08.2011