Solid away performance earns three points

Zoran Barisic's pre-match plans were interrupted as early as the 7th minute during the game against SV Mattersburg in the Pappel Stadium on Sunday: full back Stephan Auer had to depart the field of play to be replaced by Thomas Schrammel following a clash of heads with Mattersburg’s Hoeller. The 25-year old was taken directly to hospital in Eisenstadt with a suspected broken nose.

The opening stages of the game proved a cagey affair, with both sides having early half chances: for Rapid, Srdjan Grahovac tested home keeper Borenitsch with a deflected long range effort (11.); whilst Prietl responded just minutes later with a shot of his own after robbing Stefan Schwab of possession (13.). However, as the game settled down it was the Green & Whites who took the upper hand in the match and who soon took the lead. Determined pressing in the final third from captain Steffen Hofmann lead to Mattersburg turning the ball over in their own defensive third. Hofmann laid the ball off to Mario Pavelic, who unleashed a rocket of a shot from fully 30 yards that had too much on it for Borenitsch as it slammed into the roof of the net - 1:0 Rapid and a positive start following a disappointing run of four away matches without victory (17.). Now with their tails up, the Hütteldorfers looked to cash in and add a second, and came close to doing so when Philipp Schobesberger got on the end of a Schrammel cross, but failed to get the necessary power on his headed effort (20.). Seconds later another cross - this time from Schwab - found Spaniard Tomi, whose effort went just centimeters past the upright (22.).

Rapid continue to boss first half

Philipp Schobesberger was coming more and more into the match, and was heavily involved in the next two attempts on goal. Firstly, his tricky wing play and low cross supplied Flo Kainz with an excellent shooting chance from just inside the box; Kainz accepted the invitation and beat Borenitsch with a sweet right footed strike but not Novak; with the Mattersburg man somehow managing to clear Kainz' goal-bound effort off the line to save his side from falling further behind (38.). Just before half time Schobesberger almost got his own name on the scoresheet, but his low, left footed effort went just the wrong side of the near post after the flying winger had manufactured shooting space for himself by driving at the heart of the Mattersburg defence. Leading by virtue of Pavelic's stunning goal at the half way mark, there was more bad news on the injury front for the Rapid trainer team: Christopher Dibon failed to emerge for the start of the second half having suffered a suspected cheek bone fracture. Louis Schaub came on to replace the centre back, with Stefan Schwab asked to fill in alongside Mario Sonnleitner.

Early second half pressure from Rapid failed to materialize in the crucial second goal, and finally the hosts from Burgenland began to give their fans some cause for optimism. The best chance for SVM came via an attack down the Rapid left, when Pink managed to create a yard of space before playing a dangerous ball into the penalty area towards Buerger, who contrived to miss the ball completely from a promising position, albeit under heavy pressure from Mario Sonnleitner (70.). Pink himself then threatened Richard Strebinger's goal, but his effort found only the side netting when he maybe should have done better (72.). The makeshift Rapid defence stood firm though, and after seeing off this spell of pressure from Mattersburg, the Green & Whites again managed to push further up the pitch and cut off the supply lines to the home side’s forward pairing.

Prosenik seals the win

The decisive moment arrived deep into injury time when Philipp Prosenik – on as an 86th minute substitute - secured the three points. A long ball from Steffen Hofmann played Prosenik in behind a static and high Mattersburg defence, and as the ball sat up perfectly, Prosenik deftly lobbed the stranded Borenitsch to wrap up the victory with a stylish finish. The game was a hard fought but well deserved victory for the Viennese, who could make the short trip back to the capital with the three points in the bag.

(gw)