Still smarting from Thursday's defeat in Switzerland, a wounded Rapid took to the field against SV Ried in the Hanappi on Sunday and quickly put the Europa disappointments behind them. Without Steffen Hofmann (ankle injury sustained against Thun) and Branko Boskovic (illness) Rapid immediately put the guests from Austria's Innviertel under pressure, despite being deprived of the services of two of their most senior stars. In a clinical opening phase the Green & Whites made the most of the first clear opportunity they created: a sweet move saw Louis Schaub weave the ball through to Christopher Trimmel who in turn crossed low into the box for the lurking Guido Burgstaller to finish off a superb move to give Rapid a crucial early goal - 1:0 (7.). The setback rocked Ried and buoyed by the goal Rapid launched incessant waves of attacks that would ultimately bare fruit: a good spell of pressure yielded a corner which was swung into the box by Schaub, Terrence Boyd rose higher than the rest and firmly headed home Rapid's second of the game with just over a quarter of an hour played - 2:0 (17.)!The shell shocked Upper Austrians finally produced a note worthy effort in the 24th minute when Zulj sneaked undetected into the Rapid penalty area, but his headed attempt cleared the bar by some margin. It was a rare sight of goal for Ried who were being nullified as an attacking force by a commanding Rapid defensive unit. At the other end of the pitch Thanos Petsos unleashed a dangerous long range effort (34.) before Guido Burgstaller had a glorious chance to double his tally for the afternoon when he pushed his shot wide of the far post by a mere matter of inches (40.).  Rapid in commandThe start of the second half brought with it a little flurry of attacking activity from the to this point toothless guests: firstly Trauner narrowly missed with a long range effort that had Jan Novota scrambling (48.), before substitute Sandro finally got an effort on target from a difficult angle, but it was easily gathered in by Novota (57.). Rapid continued to look dangerous and in control, with the Green & Whites eating up the lion's share of the possession and producing neat interplay whilst casually working the ball from back to front. Although clear cut chances remained illusive, one always had the feeling that the Hütteldorfers had an extra gear up their sleeves should it be required. A strong 11.800 crowd were watching a controlled and measured, if not entirely breathtaking, performance from Zoki Barisic's side.With the last fifteen minutes came another string of opportunities for Rapid: Sabitzer tried his luck from range (74.), substitute Lukas Grozurek tested Ried keeper Gebauer (75.), then finally to round off a stirring couple of minutes Christopher Dibon got his head on the ball but saw his goalbound effort cleared by the combined efforts of the overworked Ried defence (76.). Dibon's effort was the last of the afternoon and the whistle finally went on what was a comfortable and commanding victory for Rapid, who did the damage early and more or less had the tie wrapped up half way through the first half.tipp3-Bundesliga, Match Day 9SK Rapid - SV Ried 2:0 (2:0)Gerhard Hanappi-Stadion, 11.800 Attendance, Ref. SchörgenhoferGoals: 1:0 (8.) Burgstaller, 2:0 (17.) BoydSK Rapid: Novota - Trimmel, Sonnleitner, Dibon, Palla - Petsos, Behrendt (62. Pichler) - Burgstaller (65. Sabitzer), Schaub, Grozurek (84. Bajrami) - BoydRied: Gebauer - Hinum, Reifeltshammer, Riegler, Kragl - Trauner, Ziegl (73. Perstaller) - Walch (82. Vastic), Zulj, Möschl (46. Sandro) - GartlerYellow Cards: Petsos, Dibon, Boyd Walch, Riegler(gw)
24.09.2013