With Austria Vienna having won in the day's early kick-off, it was imperative that Saturday evening's home clash with Wolfsberg yielded three points. To this end Zoran Barisic shuffled his pack - partly due to injury - in a bid to put to an end a run of six matches without victory against the Carinthian outfit. Christopher Dibon was deployed in defensive midfield on his return from injury sustained against Salzburg, while Max Hofmann slotted into Dibon's usual position next to Mario Sonnleitner at the heart of the defence. Steffen Hofmann meanwhile had to again make do with a place on the bench.A Hanappi goal for Deni AlarThe early phase of the match belonged to a Rapid side who set about the task of ending their win-less streak against WAC with verve and gusto. Early chances came the way of the Hütteldorfers, the first of which fell to Thanos Petsos who was denied by a last ditch tackle when through on Wolfsberg goalie Dobnik (8.). Deni Alar ensured there would be no respite for the visitors defence when he tried his luck from 25 meters, but he got a shade too much elevation on his powerful drive and it cleared the crossbar by a couple of inches (13.). But the breakthrough wasn't long in arriving: Wolfsberg man Baldauf launched into a tackle on Guido Burgstaller in the area, blocking his effort with his hand, Referee Schüttengruber subsequently pointed to the spot and Deni Alar stepped up to coolly slot the ball past Dobnik - 1:0 (19.)! It was a sweet moment for Alar after battling back from a terrible achilles injury sustained against the same opposition in the previous season. Alar's presence in the side could prove crucial in the run in. Rather than go under following the goal, WAC dug in as the game turned into a full blooded affair, being played mostly in the midfield third. However Jan Novota was rarely troubled, the big keeper easily dealt with a few crosses swung into the box and eventually the half time whistle blew with Rapid a goal to the good.Rapid weather the stormIn the second half the game continued to be bogged down in midfield, forcing Barisic to turn to his bench to freshen things up: the Rapid coach opted for a double change, throwing offensive duo Steffen Hofmann and Dominik Starkl into the mix as Rapid hunted the killer second goal. However it was the guests who came closest to finding the net during this period of play: a kind bounce of the ball presented Kehre with a clear sight of goal just ten metres out, but he put his effort high over the crossbar (69.). Just minutes later Wolfsberg ramped up the pressure again and were denied by the woodwork when a header from Standfest slammed against the crossbar (72.). Rapid's goal was leading something of a charmed life as Jan Novota was called into action to push another goal bound header, this time from Falk, away to safety (78.). However the lady luck that had so often deserted Rapid in past weeks appeared today to be on the side of Green & White, and having just about weathered the storm Rapid grabbed a crucial second to kill the game: substitute Starkl played a precise defence splitting pass to Marcel Sabitzer, who beat Dobnik with a aplomb to ease Hütteldorfer nerves - 2:0 (82.). A touch of gloss was added to the score line, which was probably a little harsh on Dietmar Kühbauer's team, when centre back Rnic put through his own net under pressure from Sonnleitner - 3:0 (87.) and finally the long awaited victory against Wolfsberg was secured!Trainer Zoran Barisic: "The most important thing today was to claim the three points. We know that we still need to improve, today we won through battling rather than through playing tremendous football. We played good football at the start and at the end of the match, but during the middle phase it was more about battling and desire."tipp3-Bundesliga, 28th roundSK Rapid - WAC 3:0 (1:0)Gerhard Hanappi-Stadium, 13.100 Attendance, Ref SchüttengruberGoals: 1:0 Alar (20./Pen), 2:0 Sabitzer (83.), 3:0 Rnic (87./Own Goal)SK Rapid: Novota - Trimmel, Sonnleitner, M. Hofmann, Schrammel - Petsos, Dibon (75./Boskovic) - Burgstaller (64./Starkl), Alar (63./S. Hofmann), Sabitzer - BoydWAC: Dobnik - Standfest, Sollbauer, Rnic, Baldauf - Kerhe, Hüttenbrenner, Putsche (80./Segovia), P. Zulj (75./Schwendinger) - Falk, Jacobo (64./Seebacher)Yellow Cards: Alar, Petsos Rnic, R. Zulj, Hüttenbrenner, Standfest(gw)
25.03.2014