There was good news for the traveling Green & White fans ahead of Saturday’s game against SV Grödig in Salzburg: midfield string-puller Stefan Schwab had made a remarkable recovery from a potentially nasty injury and was fit enough to be included in Zoran Barisic's starting eleven. Mario Sonnleitner also returned to the team following suspension as Rapid looked to build on the 2:0 win here last time out in the the Stadium.Early goals at both endsBut the game's opening exchanges proved to be anything but text book for Rapid: having caught the Hütteldorfer defence napping from a quickly taken throw, Tomi held off Max Hofmann to square the ball to Reyna, whose tame side footed effort from the edge of the box took Jan Novota by surprise, somehow finding a way past the Rapid custodian and into the net - 0:1 (7.). The early set back failed to phase Barisic's team though, and they mustered a reply of their own just minutes later: good work down the right flank from Philipp Schobesberger saw the winger cross the ball low into the centre, where it was unintentionally helped on its way by Grödig defender Völkl to Deni Alar, who showed striker's instincts as he quickly reacted, turning the ball home with a crisp left footed finish - 1:1 (14.).Rapid go behind on stroke of half timeFollowing the early goals, the goal-mouth action dissipated somewhat, with Grödig looking to exploit space in behind the Rapid defence on the counter. Clear cut chances were few and far between though, and the game developed into a full blooded affair, played largely in the middle third of the pitch. Just as it looked like the half was going to peter out, Grödig stole back into the lead: Nutz found himself in space between the Rapid midfield and defence, and used it fully, slipping a defence splitting pass through to Huspek, who beat Novota to the ball, rounding the advancing goalie before scoring from an acute angle with his left foot - 1:2 and Rapid would need to show more in the second half to get back into the match.Third goal kills the gameDominik Wydra came out for the start of the second half, in place of Steffen Hofmann, and with him came a little more spark and bite. Wydra himself and Schobesberger got efforts off on goal (47., 54.) as Rapid set about looking for an equaliser. Whilst we were pushing forwards in search of a second, the hosts always looked like having the potential to cause our defence problems on the break, and this scenario was nearly realised when Huspek shot just wide to cap off  a fluid move. It was Grödig, and indeed Huspek, who got the third goal to seal Rapid's defeat, but the Viennese will be kicking themselves as they proved largely to be the architects of their own downfall: a sloppy ball from the back by Mario Sonnleitner went straight to Nutz, who played the ball to Huspek through a gaping chasm between Sonnleitner and Hofmann. Under little pressure Huspek steadied himself and beat Novota with a calm right footed finish to seal Rapid's fate – 3:1 (73.) and no way back for a shot shy Green & White eleven."It was disappointing and far too little", said a visibly annoyed Stefan Schwab after the final whistle: "But dwelling on it doesn't help. We need to get this defeat out the system and quickly look ahead as other teams can now catch us up in the table." Next week Rapid play host to Wiener Neustadt...Trainer Zoran Barisic: "Grödig were the better team and deserved the win, even though we gifted them the goals. Up front we didn't create enough, and in this area I expected more. Grödig were committed and went into tackles, moving the ball freely forwards into the attacking third. It was a very disappointing game for us. Our mistakes were ruthlessly punished."tipico Bundesliga, Matchday 16SV Grödig - SK Rapid 3:1 (2:1)DAS.GOLDBERG Stadion, 2.500 Attendance, Ref Schärer (SUI)Goals: 1:0 Reyna (7.), 1:1 Alar (14.), 2:1 Huspek (45.), 3:1 Huspek (73.)SV Grödig: C. Stankovic - Potzmann, Maak, Karner, Martschinko - Brauer, Völkl - Huspek (90./Goiginger), Nutz (89./Djuric), Reyna (82./Emmanuel) - TomiSK Rapid: Novota - Schrammel, Sonnleitner, M. Hofmann, Stangl - Schwab, S. Hofmann (46./Wydra) - Schobesberger (67./Schaub), Alar (81./Prosenik), F. Kainz - BericYellow Cards: Brauer M. Hofmann, Sonnleitner(gw)
22.11.2014