After just two minutes of action Lukas Königshofer found himself picking the ball out of the net: Innsbruck had caught Rapid cold, Burgic set up Schreter who ghosted in undetected to give the hosts an early lead. The Huetteldorfers, showing no changes from the team that dispatched Kapfenberg last time out, mustered an immediate response: a Steffen Hofmann pass beautifully bisected the Wacker back four to set Deni Alar through on goal, but the young striker failed to beat Safar and Rapid remained in arrears. After just 10 minutes it was a case of déjà vu for Green & White keeper Königshofer as he was again beaten by a Schreter effort. Two - nil down inside 10 minutes nearly became three down just four minutes later, but luckily for the travelling Viennese a deflected free kick rolled agonizingly wide of the target. Luckily Schöttel’s side managed to steady themselves and get back on the front foot just as it looked as though they might be sinking without a trace. Steffen Hofmann fired of a warning shot in the 16th minute as he looked to address the balance: it was a taste of what was to come for the hosts, who, until this point, had had things all their own way.   Atdhe Nuhiu replaced the injured Prager in the 21st minute, an attacking sub from Schöttel whose side was staring down the barrel already trailing by two. It took Rapid time to adjust to the new shape and Innsbruck looked to capitalize on the insecurity: a close range effort from Schütz was repelled as again Rapid held on, looking to ride out the rocky patches before coming back into the game. Sub Nuhiu began to make an impact for the men from the capital: first he went close with a close range snap shot in the 36th minute, before Safar kept out the tall hitman’s header minutes before half time. Sandwiched between the two Nuhiu attempts was a Boris Prokopic long range effort in the 36th minute. The last chance of the first half fell to finnish enforcer Heikkinen in stoppage time, again kept out by the Innsbruck rearguard. Despite trailing 0 - 2 at half time, the Huetteldorfers had shown enough fight to give the travelling band of supporters hope for a second half recovery. A determined Rapid emerged for the second half, looking to pick up where the left off at the end of the first. The Green & Whites continued to build up a head of steam and finally got the rewards. Deni Alar skipped into the Wacker penalty area and laid off a tantalizing ball to Nuhiu who made no mistake and clinically buried the chance, giving Rapid renewed hope in the 59th minute. The hosts were still threatening when they came forward though and all the hard work was nearly undone three minutes later, but Königshofer pulled off a terrific save to deny Wernitznig. It looked as though the football gods may have been smiling on Rapid when in the 72nd minute Perstaller passed up a great opportunity to kill Schöttel's team off. The game began to swing from end to end and just a minute later Safar was at full stretch to stop Sonnleitner from restoring parity with a powerful header. The game was then interrupted as crowd disturbance of the Innsbruck section brought proceedings to a stand still. Luckily the game was able to get under way again following a lengthy pause. Seven minutes were added on at the end as the tension and emotion reached fever pitch. Unfortunately there was no way through in the remaining time for the Green & Whites and they faced the trip back to Vienna empty handed. tipp3-Bundesliga, 27th round:Wacker Innsbruck - SK Rapid 2:1 (2:0)Tivoli Stadion Tirol, 10.214, Referee Prammer Goals: 1:0 Schreter (2.) 2:0 Schreter (11.) 2:1 Nuhiu (60.) Innsbruck: Safar - Dakovic, Bea, Svejnoha, Hauser (46./Bilgen) - Abraham - Schütz (67./Harding), Merino (40./Perstaller), Schreter, Wernitznig - Burgic SK Rapid: Königshofer - Thonhofer, Sonnleitner, Pichler, Katzer (80./Gartler) - Heikkinen, Prager (21./Nuhiu) - Prokopic, Hofmann, Grozurek (61./Burgstaller) - Alar Yellow Cards: Abraham, Perstaller, Bilgen Sonnleitner, Pichler (gw)
03.04.2012