Just three days after the trip to Greece, Rapid found themselves in Carinthia to take on the Bundesliga new boys Wolfsberger AC. The hosts had been finding top flight life tough: before this game they had failed to score a home goal. Unfortunately this would turn out to be the day they would rectify that statistic. The Rapid line up showed a few changes to the side the faced PAOK in midweek: Pichler came in for the ill Gerson, Schrammel came in for Katzer and Boyd replaced Deni Alar up front. Things took a while to get going....Through the driving rain and generally terrible weather, a decent match began to take shape. Despite the tempo and flow of the game being interrupted by a series of fouls and free kicks, there were a few decent opportunities being created. The first chance came the way of the hosts in the 7th minute as Kehre was played in but sent his effort narrowly wide of the target. Lucky escape. The Viennese' luck was to only last for a further 10 minutes though: Baldauf shrugged off Mario Sonnleitner to get to a free kick first and guided his header past the on-rushing Lukas Königshofer to give Wolfsberg a shock lead. The goal stung Rapid into life in the final third and the Green & Whites proceeded to create, and spurn, a host of chances to draw level. Firstly Grozurek missed the target after home keeper Dobnik had collided with Sonnleitner in the 20th minute. On the half hour mark Sonnleitner was again involved, rising highest to send a powerful header agonisingly close to the far corner, but ultimately out for a goal kick. Two minutes later Baldauf again tested Königshofer, but this time the young Rapid keeper came out on top. Despite the string of opportunities it remained 0-1 going into the break. Plenty of chances, no goalsRapid coach Peter Schöttel made two changes during the interval: Ildiz and Alar were introduced with Grozurek and Kulovits making way. However it was the hosts who again came out of the traps quicker with Königshofer having to be at his best to keep out quickfire early efforts from De Paula and Kehre. It took a while but Rapid mustered a response: firstly Ildiz couldn't believe his luck as keeper Dobnik somehow clawed his 57th minute wonderstrike away to safety, then just over 60 seconds later Pichler's deflected effort was kept out by the in form home goalie. It seemed like a matter of time before the Green & Whites would force the equaliser: the home side seemed to sense it too, dropping deeper and deeper, conceding more territory and posession to their illustrious guests. The final clear cut chance fell to Boyd following some outstanding build up play, but again the Rapid striker just couldn't force the ball over the line. A disappointing defeat in a game which surely could have yielded another precious three points. Peter Schöttel: "The defeat really annoys me. Our opponents actually conceded the majority of the possesion to us. We knew that they would be dangerous on the counter. Unfortunately we conceded a soft goal from a standard situation, but when you can’t force a goal of your own then you can’t have any complaints when you lose. The fact that the winning goal arrived from a free kick situation makes the defeat especially annoying, but we had plenty of chances to rectify the situation. We were clearly the dominant side but didn’t make the most of our 3 or 4 clear cut openings. This defeat was totally avoidable." tipp3-Bundesliga powered by T-mobile, 6th round: WAC - SK Rapid 1:0 (1:0)Wolfsberg, Lavanttal-Arena, 7.300, Referee Hameter Goal: 1:0 (18.) Baldauf WAC: Dobnik - Thonhofer, Jovanovic, Sollbauer, Baldauf - Polverino - Kerhe, De Paula (82./Messner), Liendl, Jacobo (77./M. Kröpfl) - Rivera (68./Topcagic) SK Rapid: Königshofer - Schimpelsberger, Sonnleitner, Pichler, Schrammel - Kulovits (46./Ildiz), Prager - Grozurek (46./Alar), Hofmann, G. Burgstaller (73./Schaub) - Boyd Yellow Cards: Jacobo, De Paula, Topcagic Pichler, Ildiz (gw)
31.08.2012