An early free kick from Thanos Petsos that went just wide of the far post set the tone for what was to follow (2.): a determined Rapid side had taken to the pitch in the capital, determined to finally put the finishing touches that had been lacking in recent weeks to their pleasing brand of attacking football. After just four minutes the Green & Whites were well on their way to doing just that: a deflected shot from Stefan Schwab wrong footed Grödig keeper Stankovic, whose parry fell to full back Mario Pavelic who buried the simple chance, netting his first goal for the club in the process - 1:0 (4.)!No let up as the flowing football continuesJust five minutes later Stankovic was again picking the ball out of the net having failed to completely deal with an initial effort: this time a Schobesberger shot proved too hot to handle for the beleaguered goalie, and Louis Schaub showed a striker’s instinct as he was on the spot to cash in on the mistake - 2:0 (9.)! It was just rewards for Louis Schaub, our mercurial wing forward, whose classy play around the opposition box had failed to yield the goals it had richly deserved in the past weeks. Waves of attacks continued to rain down on the guests, and Zoran Barisic’s men almost made it three not long afterwards, but Philipp Schobesberger found only the outside of the net after Stankovic had done well to keep out a Schaub header from a Flo Kainz cross (14.). Stefan Schwab tried to get in on the act, but his long range effort was kept out by Stankovic, whose unhappy outing in Vienna was brought to a premature end shortly afterwards as he left the field injured. The sharp build up play continued throughout the rest of the half, but with the confidence flowing Rapid were perhaps guilty of over playing against a dispirited opponent, rather than ruthlessly finishing the game off. Grödig offered a little reminder that they were still within touch when Jan Novota was could into action by a Djuric header, but our custodian was no mood to let a clean sheet slip away. A final chance did arrive in the closing moments of the first period, and it looked like the Hütteldorfers had conjured a killer third, but Kainz failed to connect properly with a header from a Schaub cross. Rapid complete second half rout  Zoran Barisic’s half time team talk seemed to work a treat, as his side emerged from the dressing room and promptly put the match to bed: a first attacking move of the second half involving Schobesberger and Schaub worked the ball to Flo Kainz, who coolly slotted home to extinguish whatever lingering hopes Grödig may have had of escaping with a point (48). Grödig’s heads dropped noticeably with the goal, but Rapid were not in sympathetic mood and continued to slice their opponents apart at will in the hunt for more goals. A fourth nearly arrived on the hour mark, but Beric’s effort from a low cut back was kept out by a desperate Grödig rear-guard action (60.). It came as no surprise when the fourth was eventually added, and it was a goal well worth waiting for: a beautifully weighted through ball from Kainz split the guests’ defence, allowing Schobesberger to race through on substitute goalie Strasser, who, finding himself stranded in no-man’s-land, was easily lobbed by the Rapid speed merchant who wheeled away in delight to celebrate scoring the best goal of the afternoon - 4:0 (65.)! With any semblance of pressure removed, the buoyant Hütteldorfers continued to spray the ball around and fashion further chances, but efforts from Schrammel and Kainz failed to add to the score line. The game finished 4:0, our highest margin of victory at home this season, and reflected a superb performance from a maturing Rapid side. Trainer Zoran Barisic: "The team showed the correct reaction after slipping up last weekend. We put on a good show and were rewarded with a 4:0 win. This time we had the fortune to get the early goals and carried on where we left of after 48 minutes of the derby last week."tipico Bundesliga, Match Day 25SK Rapid - SV Grödig 4:0 (2:0)Ernst-Happel-Stadion, 15.700, Ref SchörgenhoferGoals: 1:0 (4.) Pavelic, 2:0 (9.) Schaub, 3:0 (47.) Kainz, 4:0 (66.) SchobesbergerSK Rapid: Novota - Pavelic, Petsos, Sonnleitner, Schrammel - Grahovac, Schwab - Schobesberger (67. Starkl), Schaub (72. S. Hofmann), F. Kainz - Beric (72. Prosenik)SV Grödig: C. Stankovic (27. Strasser) - Potzmann (72. Handle), Cabrera (46. Kerschbaum), Karner, Strobl - Hart, Brauer, Maak, Martschinko - Djuric - HuspekYellow Cards: Kainz Cabrera, Brauer(gw)
17.03.2015