With the travelling support of 600 loyal Rapid fans our team travelled north to Helsinki for the first instalment of this two legged tie that will decide the club's international interests for this season. The stormy weather in the days building up to this do or die UEFA Europa League qualifier subsided, and perfect football weather welcomed Rapid onto the pitch - a Rapid side once again spear headed by Robert Beric in attack who returned following his domestic suspension. Brian Behrendt also took his place in the starting line up despite his broken nose, whilst Summer recruit Stefan Schwab also earned a place in the starting eleven.Bossing possession, acclimatising to the pitchOn the pitch the Green & Whites came face to face with an old friend, Markus Heikkinen. The traveling Rapid fans sent out a message to the ex-Rapid enforcer, unveiling a banner saying "Markus Heikkinen - one of us" (in finnish!). If Heikkinen was friend turned foe for the afternoon, there was a much tougher enemy to overcome - the pitch. The astro-turf surface in Helsinki was certainly proving an advantage to the hosts, with Rapid fining it tough to adjust to the different roll and bounce of the ball. Despite having to contend with this odd disadvantage it was the Hütteldorfers who commanded the lion's share of possession in a first half that was largely devoid of noteworthy goal mouth action. The best offering from the Viennese was an effort from Schwab on the stroke of half time that drew a routine save from HJK goalie Doblas (44.).Schaub magic bags crucial away goalAt the start of the second half it appeared that Rapid had managed to acclimatise to the conditions and as a consequence they were attacking with more verve and threat. Firstly, a Brian Behrendt header from a decent position just lacked the necessary power to trouble Doblas (49.), before Louis Schaub forced the keeper into a save with a low shot (54.). Then a wonderful piece of skill from Schaub resulted in the crucial away goal: the intrepid forward broke into the penalty area and struck a sweet shot with the outside of his left boot that bent round Doblas and into the far corner of the net in front of the away fans - 0:1 and cue wild celebrations (54.)!Pegged back by HJKHowever having worked so hard to get ahead, the lead was short lived: with Christopher Dibon taken out of play by a hard challenge from Kadji (Dibon would later have to be substituted) HJK capitalised on the confusion amongst the re-jigged Rapid defence to grab an equaliser: Lod made the most of the Finn's numerical advantage, driving home an unstoppable shot past Jan Novota from the edge of the area - 1:1 (62.). With just over fifteen minutes to play things got worse for the Green & Whites when Väyrynen punished sloppy, indecisive play at the back from Rapid, lashing home a shot that was deflected on its way past the wrong-footed Novota - 2:1 (73.).Rapid's quest for an equaliser on the night yielded only half chances for Starkl and Kainz and after three minutes of injury time the whistle went and a 2:1 defeat was confirmed. However, Schaub's moment of genius means the tie is very much alive ahead of the return leg in what will be a very intense atmosphere in Vienna.Trainer Zoran Barisic: "I don't see everything here in a negative light. It was the expected tough game. We controlled the opposition and deservedly went 1:0 up. After the equaliser we got a bit nervous. We were too rushed in our play. The result though is far from terrible for us. Whilst we aren't assuming everything will go perfectly in the home leg, I'm not dissatisfied with the performance."UEFA Europa League, Play Off First Leg:HJK Helsinki - SK Rapid 2:1 (0:0)Sonera Stadium, 6.153 Attendance, Ref Özkahya (TUR)Goals: 0:1 Schaub (58.), 1:1 Lod (63.), 2:1 Väyrynen (74.)HJK Helsinki: Doblas - Sorsa (75./Baah), Moren, Heikkinen, Lampi - Perovuo, Lod - Alho (71./Zeneli), Väyrynen (92./Heikkilä), Savage - KandjiSK Rapid: Novota - Pavelic, Sonnleitner, Dibon (64./M. Hofmann), Schrammel - Behrendt, Wydra - St. Hofmann (78./Starkl), Schwab (91./F. Kainz), Schaub - BericYellow Cards: Heikkinen Dibon, Schaub(gw)
21.08.2014