Peter Schöttel elected to go with the same starting line up he had fielded last time out, although there was a noteworthy addition to the bench youngster Kristijan Dobras took his place amongst the subs for the first time, making the step up from reserve to first team squad. The match itself was a frustrating affair, owing largely to the visitors sitting extremely deep and looking to hit Rapid on the counter. The first half chance came the way of US forward Terrence Boyd, unfortunately he couldn't get Deni Alar's quality 14th minute through-ball under control. At the other end Markus Katzer was on hand in the 19th minute to clear a goal bound Admira header off the line. Both teams were fully committed and diving into challenges, but a little touch of quality and fluency in the build up phase was missing. The best chance of the half fell to Guido Burgstaller 6 minutes before the interval: the forward was picked out by great ball from Mario Sonnleitner and managed to get a shot away but it was dealt with by Admira keeper Tischler and pushed out for a corner. A goal before half time would have been ideal as it may have forced the ultra defensive visitors out of their shell, potentially creating a little room for the Green & Whites to exploit. Few clear cut chances in the second periodNo changes were made at half time and the pattern of the game also bore a striking resemblance to the first half. The visitors tactics nearly paid off when a counter attack ended with a Quedraogo effort, but unfortunately for Admira he screwed his 50th minute effort wide of the target. Just two minutes later a free kick from captain Hofmann produced a good chance as the Rapid skippers effort rebounded back to him but he floated his second effort agonizingly a couple of inches over the far corner. With Admira continuing to sit deep Rapid were finding it extremely difficult to create enough space to fashion chances. The closest they came to breaking the deadlock was in the 73rd minute when Alar nearly latched onto an under-hit backpass, but keeper Tischler got to the ball seconds before him. It is worth mentioning that right up until the final whistle Rapid gave everything to try and find the illusive breakthrough goal. It was also a memorable afternoon for Dobras who did make it off the bench to celebrate his senior debut. But in the end the Hütteldorfers couldn't force a way through and had to settle for a hard earned point - yet somewhat frustrating - point. tipp3-Bundesliga, 8th RundeSK Rapid - Admira Wacker 0:0Gerhard Hanappi-Stadion, 16.100 Att., Referee Harkam SK Rapid: Königshofer - Trimmel, Sonnleitner, Gerson, Katzer - Heikkinen, Ildiz (81./Kulovits) - Burgstaller, Hofmann (85./Dobras), Alar - Boyd (67./Grozurek) Admira Wacker: Tischler - Plassnegger, Pöllhuber, Schrott, Palla - Schick (79./Sax), Schachner, Thürauer, Sabitzer - Ouedraogo (67./Schicker), Schwab (60./Toth) Yellow Cards: Trimmel, Ildiz Schwab, Palla, Plassnegger, Quedraogo, Schicker (gw)
24.09.2012