Heavy defeat in Ried
In splendid sunshine in Austria's Innviertel two teams in desperate need of a win took to the field. The Hütteldorfers made the trip westwards on the back of a rare cup success in St. Pölten, whilst relegation threatened Ried badly needed a positive result to ease their fears at the bottom of the table. During the warm up Max Hofmann felt pain and was adjudged unfit, so Christoph Schösswendter took his place in the starting lineup. Max Wöber retained his place in the side, despite the likes of Mario Sonnleitner being available for selection after recovering from a cold.
The opening stages of the contest belonged to the hosts: after winning possession in midfield Ried launched a swift counter with Elsneg playing a dangerous ball into the middle. Max Wöber met the cross, clearing the ball out for a corner from underneath his own crossbar (4.). Chaos reigned from the ensuing corner, with Rapid being put under sustained early pressure. The Green & Whites registered their first shot on goal after ten minutes, as Joelinton hit the side netting after being fed from the wing by Thomas Schrammel.
Following the chance a combative Ried side disrupted the flow of the game with committed challenges and well positioned defending, as the match became bogged down in midfield. The Innviertel side did manufacture a string of half chances which - fortunately for us - went unrewarded. Rapid were struggling to get into the match in an attacking sense, whilst they were having problems containing Ried at the back. Mario Sonnleitner came on out half time for Schösswendter as Damir Canadi searched for defensive solidity.
Gio Kvilitaia also came off the bench to replace Tamas Szanto, but the second half was barely half a minute old as Ried took the lead: Möschl used space afforded to him on the edge of the area to swing a cross into the box, where Ademis's close range header was saved by Tobias Knoflach. However, the keeper’s parry fell kindly for Elsneg who easily stroked home to hand his side the lead - 0:1 (46.). To add to Rapid’s woes Mario Sonnleitner had clashed heads with Ademis in the buildup to the goal, and had to leave the field. Stephen Auer moved into the defence, withSteffen Hofmann coming on to try and provide some attacking impetus.
But things failed to improve: Ried substitute Egho missed a golden chance to grab a second, but the home fans were celebrating minutes later anyway when Zulj volleyed home a free kick (52.). Rapid’s defending during Ried's next attack again left a lot to be desired, as Knoflach could only push a long shot from Zulj to the onrushing Hart, who converted a simple chance to put Ried 3:0 up (56.). Another long-range effort from Zulj again looked dangerous as it narrowly missed the target (60.). At the other end of the field a 70th minute Mario Pavelic off-target shot was the best Rapid could muster. Ried continued to belie their lowly league position with an excellent display that could have yielded more goals: Egho volleyed just wide after a scramble in the box; whilst Hart lashed over from a good position (74.).
Rapid looked deflated and to all intents and purposes worryingly gave up the ghost in the closing stages. A decent shot from Murg drew a smart stop from Durakovic in a rare bright spot (79.) but that was largely as good as it got for the blunt Hütteldorfers. This was clearly a new low in a difficult season. Our team now must regroup and regather some confidence as things are not going to get any easier: next up in the league is the visit of second placed Altach. The league table certainly doesn't make for pleasant viewing at the moment, with a clear improvement in performances necessary to arrest this worrying slide down the table.
(gw)
tipico Bundesliga, 28th round:
SV Ried - SK Rapid 3:0 (0:0)
Keine Sorgen Arena, 6.183 Attendance, Ref Ouschan
Goals: 1:0 Elsneg (46.), 2:0 P. Zulj (52.), 3:0 Hart (55.);
SV Ried: Durakovic - Hart, Reifeltshammer, Özdemir, Marcos - Ziegl (76. Prada), P. Zulj - Möschl, S. Nutz (80. Trauner), Elsneg - Ademi (49. Egho);
SK Rapid: Knoflach - Schößwendter (38. Sonnleitner/51. S. Hofmann), Dibon, Wöber - Pavelic, Szanto (46. Kvilitaia), Schwab, Auer, Schrammel - Murg, Joelinton;
Yellow Cards: Wöber, Kvilitaia;