Rapid went into the game against Wolfsberg without the services of goalkeeper Lukas Königshofer, who on Saturday celebrated the birth of his son. Jan Novota came in to deputise and was a happy onlooker as Rapid's first forray into opposition territory paid dividends: Deni Alar played in strike partner Guido Burgstaller with a precise pass, who quickly brought the ball under control before unleashing a venemous drive into the roof of the net (11.). The goal represented the first for the Green & Whites against the newly promoted side. It looked like Rapid were set to take the game by the scruff of the neck: the next threat came from Steffen Hofmann, the skippers long range effort just dipping the wrong side of the upright (15.). The Hütteldorfers early dominance soon dissipated though, and the game would take on a rather different shape.  Short lived advantageWolfsberg began to scrap and fight, attempting to turn the tide and break the early momentum. Rapid's lead was shockingly turned into a deficit well before half time: following Hofmann's effort the hosts swept up the field, whipped a ball into the penalty for Topcagic, who gave Jan Novota no chance from close range – 1:1 (15.). The next goalmouth action dissapointingly turned the game on its head: Ex-Rapid full back Christian Thonhofer burst through some weak challenges and into the box, got a shot away and beat Jan Novota via a deflection – Wolfsberg had turned the deficit around and there was still ten minutes to go in the first half. The goal was a real setback for Rapid, who attempted to respond but were unable to fashion any clear cut chances and remained one goal in arrears going into the break. Controversial decisionsRapid emerged from the dressing room looking to re-establish their early dominance. The first sight of goal came the way of the Hütteldorfers: Guido Burgstaller, making his 100th Bundesliga appearance, got a shot away in the 48th minute but failed to alter the scoreline. A searching ball looked like finding Terrence Boyd in behind the hosts defence before he was upended by Jovanovic, who, amid angry Wolfsberg protests recieved a red card for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity (50.). Rapid looked to capitalise on their numerical advantage and began to slowly increase the pressure on the Wolfsberg reargaurd, who were dropping deeper and deeper. With a little under 15 minutes to play, controversy struck again: this time it was Rapid up in arms as Sonnleitner was harshly ajudged to have fouled Polverino in the box. Rivera took the penalty and thankfully for Rapid, failed to hit the target, passing up the chance to end the game as a contest (77.). Two minutes later De Paula rashly went in hard on Hofmann and correctly became the second Wolfsberg player to recieve his marching orders. Luckily the Rapid skipper didn't sustain any injuries through the horror challenge.  Coach Peter Schöttel threw caution to the wind, and with a triple substitution (Sabitzer, Schaub, Wydra) desperately tried to rescue a point against the now nine man hosts. Unfortunately the Hütteldorfers failed to make headway against a compact and well drilled Wolfsberg defence: the only chance of note fell again to Burgstaller who in the 89th minute failed to get his shot on target. It was a disappointing end to the game for Rapid, who are still looking to reignite their season following a winless sequence since the re-commencement of the Bundesliga season. tipp3-Bundesliga, 24th round:WAC - SK Rapid 2:1 (2:1)Lavanttal-Arena, 5.150 Attendance, Referee EisnerGoals: 0:1 Burgstaller (10.), 1:1 Topcagic (16.), 2:1 Thonhofer (35.)WAC: Dobnik - Thonhofer, Jovanovic, Sollbauer, Baldauf – Polverino – Kerhe, De Paula, Liendl (64. Putsche), Jacobo (53. Hüttenbrenner) – Topcagic (71. Rivera)SK Rapid: Novota - Trimmel, Sonnleitner, Gerson (74. Wydra), Schrammel - Pichler, Boskovic (74. Schaub) - Alar (60. Sabitzer), Hofmann, Burgstaller - BoydYellow Cards: Polverino Gerson, SchaubRed Cards: Jovanovic (50.), De Paula (79.) (gw)
04.03.2013