Michael Schimpelsberger and Gerson returned to the starting lineup for Saturday's home fixture against Admira. Marcel Sabitzer will also have been delighted to have gotten the nod to face his former employers. The first chance of the afternoon arrived after seven minutes: Steffen Hofmann delivered a free kick from the left flank that was deftly flicked on by Pichler. The contact was nearly enough to beat Admira keeper Macho, who had to fling himself full length to his left to palm the ball away to safety. Further efforts from Hoffmann (13., free kick) and Sonnleitner (17., header) followed in quick succession but the game remained goalless. Captain injuredAt the other end of the pitch Admira also managed to fashion a couple of chances, the best of which fell to Quedraogo in the 20th minute. The Admira striker found himself unmarked from a corner but could only turn his close range header wide of the target. Then an extremely sour note for Rapid: Captain Steffen Hofmann went into an innocuous looking challenge, but fell to the floor clutching his left knee. He immediately signaled to the bench that he needed to be withdrawn. First examinations suggest ligament damage. Christopher Trimmel came on to replace him. The next goalmouth action saw Admira come within the width of the crossbar of taking the lead: an audacious overhead kick from Ebner nearly paid off but the Mödling man was denied by the goal frame with Königshofer well beaten. On the stroke of half time Burgstaller passed up a glorious opportunity to snatch the lead for the Hütteldorfers when a deflected shot dropped to the forward just feet from the goal line, but he failed to apply the necessary contact to force it in and the ball trickled to the grateful Macho. Second half goalsIn the closing stages of the first half a goal had seemed in the offing and it duly arrived eight minutes after the restart: Harry Pichler gathered the ball in the left hand corner of the Admira penalty area, showed great strength to hold off his marker and curled a sublime effort beyond Macho and inside the far post to hand Rapid the advantage. Any joy on the terraces was to be short lived however. A swift Admira counter attack sliced through a series of weak challenges on the Rapid left, the ball was cut back to Quedraogo who had found space around the penalty spot and he slammed the ball into the net with authority to level the game at one a piece. The Green & Whites responded by pushing forwards in search of a winner: a long range Sabitzer effort had Macho scrambling (59.), while Burgstaller was unlucky to see his powerful low drive turned round the post by the inform keeper. The best chance of the remaining minutes though fell to Admira: questionable marking from a corner presented Schwab with a guilt edged headed chance just yards from the goal, but to the relief of Hütteldorfer he could only guide his header onto the post. Substitute Deni Alar was the next to be denied by Macho (82.), and slowly it became evident that Rapid weren't going to find a way past the experienced goalkeeper for a second time in the match. The score remained 1:1 and the search for three points goes on. We wish Steffen Hofmann all the best for his recovery and hope the Rapid captain can make a speedy return to action.  tipp3-Bundesliga, 26th roundSK Rapid - FC Admira 1:1 (0:0)Gerhard Hanappi Stadion, 10.900 Attendance, Referee OuschanGoals: 1:0 Pichler (53.), 1:1 Ouedraogo (57.)SK Rapid: Königshofer - Schimpelsberger (76./Alar), Sonnleitner, Gerson, Schrammel - Wydra, Pichler - Burgstaller (85./Schaub), Hofmann (27./Trimmel), Sabitzer - BoydAdmira: Macho - T. Weber, Schösswendter, Ebner, Palla - Schick (78./Gremsl), Schachner (56./Thürauer), Schwab, Tito - Ouedraogo, Segovia (65./Toth)Yellow Cards: Wydra, Boyd Tito, Toth (gw)
19.03.2013