With Dominik Wydra unavailable due to illness Thanos Petsos was drafted in to form the midfield pivot with Stefan Schwab. Ahead of them were the familiar attacking trio of Louis Schaub, Florian Kainz and Steffen Hofmann with Robert Beric again the lone striker. Three points would provide a welcome tonic for Rapid following defeat to Salzburg last time out a point against Oliver Glasner's side would see the men from the capital overtake Altach and move into third place, whilst a victory would serve the pressing purpose of closing the gap on top two Salzburg and Wolfsberg.A confident start by the Green & Whites was almost capped in the 8th minute when Steffen Hofmann rattled the bar from close range after the ball found its way to him from a Louis Schaub cross. The Rapid skipper may have felt he should have done better with the effort, as he lashed the ball against the woodwork from a great position ten feet from goal (8.). A clever training ground move from a free kick nearly created the next opening, as Steffen Hofmann shaped to shoot but spun on the ball, dinking a chipped ball into Robert Beric, whose header across goal was just too close to Ried keeper Gebauer (13.). It was a nice piece of invention from the Hütteldorfers, who were looking to turn their good early play into the first goal of the afternoon.Stung on the stroke of half timeIt took until beyond the twenty minute mark for the hosts to make any headway in the Rapid defensive third, and when they did Thomas Schrammel was on hand, sweeping up round from left back to stamp out the danger (23.). As the half wore on the early Hütteldorfer pre-eminence began to decline as the game became something of a midfield battle, with both teams going into full-blooded challenges. A sharp counter attack from Rapid saw Steffen Hofmann do well to retain possession and play a cute reverse ball into Beric, but the slovenian striker's touch let him down and the chance was gone (34.). Stefan Schwab then had Gebauer scrambling in the Ried goal, as he unleashed a low left footed rocket from the edge of the box that missed the right post by a matter of inches (35.). Not long afterwards the home side managed their first shot on target, substitute Patrick Möschl struck the ball cleanly from just inside the box, but his effort was far too straight and comfortably fisted away by Jan Novota (40.). Ried's second shot of the afternoon wasn't long in following, but Thomas Murg's left footed effort skidded well wide of the target (44.).Just as it seemed the first half would end with the deadlock in tact, Stefan Schwab conceded a free kick 5 meters outside the Rapid box to present a decent opportunity to the hosts. Ried free kick specialist Oliver Kragl stepped up, and despite the distance his side footed effort had enough on it to beat Jan Novota low down at his right hand post - 1:0 (45.) and the worst possible end to the half for the Viennese. Having started brightly and faded somewhat, the Green & Whites would need to improve in the second half and fashion more clear cut chances if they were to avoid making the journey back east empty handed.Second half fightbackIf Rapid were looking for a quick start at the beginning of the second half then that was exactly what they got: from Steffen Hofmann's corner Christopher Dibon found himself in acres of space in the Ried box and guided an unchallenged header - via a slight deflection off Robert Beric - past Thomas Gebauer to level proceedings. Dibon reeled off to celebrate with official scorer Beric in front of the packed away sector - 1:1 (52.). Just minutes later the Hütteldorfers had turned the game on its head: again Dibon rose completely unchallenged in the Ried box from a Hofmann corner this time the centre back directed the ball towards the back post and Mario Sonnleitner, who was on hand to stab the ball from barely a meter out - 1:2 (59.)! With the hosts' defence now rocking, Rapid went in search of a third, and almost delivered it through Florian Kainz, who fired just wide from the edge of the Ried penalty area having been fed the ball by Louis Schaub (63.). With Ried being driven on by their precarious position at the foot of the Bundesliga table and an increasingly frustrated home support, the game began to open up for Rapid on the counter. Breaking with five attackers against three defenders a move involving Steffen Hofmann broke down at the last pass as Florian Kainz's final ball was intercepted with Rapid shirts queuing in the box to tap home (65.).  Space on the counterWith space opening up Zoran Barisic threw the pacey Philipp Schobesberger into the action in place of Kainz, looking to increase Rapid's potency on the counter (72.). Having looked a spent force for much of the second half, Ried suddenly burst into life when Möschl fired off a low curling effort that forced Novota into a full length diving save (77.). The big Slovakian stopper quickly scrambled to his feet to block the re-bound, before a third effort in quick succession went wide of the target as Rapid re-grouped and breathed a sigh of relief. With Ried looking to force their way back into the match, the Rapid bench reacted again bringing on a fresh pair of legs in Grahovac for the impressive Steffen Hofmann (82.). Novota was again called into action shortly afterwards, launching himself full length to get his fingertips to the ball and push Thomas Murg's goal bound free kick over the bar (87.). Having been little more than a spectator for large parts of the second half the Rapid custodian was now coming to the fore as time ticked down.Murg's free kick would be as close as Ried would come to finding an equaliser as Rapid repelled the late attempt to rally and closed out the game to earn a deserved three points in a tricky venue. The win represents the fourth on the bounce versus today's opponents and sees the Green & Whites quickly return to winning ways, simultaneously re-taking third position in the Bundesliga table. tipico Bundesliga, 11th round:SV Ried - Rapid 1:2 (1:0)Ried, Keine Sorgen Arena, 5.200 Attendance, Referee HameterGoals: 1:0 Kragl (46., Freistoß), 1:1 Beric (52.), 1:2 Sonnleitner (59.)SV Ried: Gebauer - Lainer, Janeczek, Pichler, Kragl (55./Burghuber) - Trauner (38./Möschl) - Walch (78./Perstaller), Elsneg, Streker, Murg - ThomallaSK Rapid: Novota - Pavelic, Sonnleitner, Dibon, Schrammel - Petsos, Schwab - Schaub, S. Hofmann (82./Grahovac), F. Kainz (72./Schobesberger) - Beric (92./Prosenik)Yellow Cards: Janeczek, Lainer Beric, Petsos, F. Kainz(gw)
06.10.2014