125 JAHRE SK RAPID
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06.05.2019
Bundesliga

Rapid win 7-goal thriller at Admira

Shorn of the influential Thomas Murg through suspension and Max Hofmann through minor injury, Rapid travelled to the South City to take on Admira. There were places in the starting line-up for Christopher Dibon, Stephan Auer, Christoph Knasmüllner, Andrei Ivan and Aliou Badji, all of whom suffered the disappointment of having to start the cup final on the bench. Rapid's attacking intent was signalled early when Stefan Schwab threaded the ball through to Aliou Badji, who rifled his shot over the bar (3.). Just minutes later the first presentable chance of the afternoon materialised thanks to neat combination football between Badji, Schobesberger and Auer, which resulted in our number 7 missing the target by a matter of inches. The Hütteldorfers looked bright and positive, showing no signs of a hangover from Wednesday's traumatic loss and they continued to press: A superb strike from Ivan had the travelling fans out of their seats but the ball crashed into the woodwork with home keeper Andrea Leitner well beaten (19.).

Head Coach Didi Kühbauer was forced into making a change when Ivan pulled up injured, with the Romanian replaced by Marvin Potzmann. With a potentially hectic schedule coming up, Kühbauer will be hoping to avoid injuries and a stretched squad. The change did little to interrupt Rapid’s flow and finally the Hütteldorfers forged ahead: A Knasmüllner cross was flicked onto Badji by Schwab, who hammered the ball into the roof of the net with a minimum of fuss - 1:0 and well deserved (37.)! The celebrating Green & White fans wouldn’t have to wait long for the second.

A slide-rule pass from Schwab played in Boli Bolingoli, who unselfishly squared to Badji for what looked a tap-in, but Leitner did well to scramble, close down the angle and smother Badji's effort out for a corner. From the resulting set-piece, however, Leitner was powerless to prevent his side from slipping further behind: A good corner from Schobesberger was flicked on by Dibon to the back post, where it was met by Mario Sonnleitner who stabbed home from close range - 2:0 (40.). The goal gave Sonnleitner his best return in terms of goals in a season since his move from Graz all those long years ago and the stalwart centre back looked understandably delighted as he celebrated with his teammates. Rapid managed to grab a third before half-time, again owing a lot to good work from Bolingoli: The defender-cum-winger again found himself the most advanced player on the pitch, knocking the ball back to Badji on the edge of the box, who swept home with a crisp, left-footed finish - 3:0 (42.). The whistle went with Rapid fully in control and surely out of sight of their shell-shocked hosts. Surely.

If Rapid thought that Admira would lie down and surrender in the second period they were mistaken: An ungainly looking run from Sasa Kalajdzic into the box saw the Admira man bundle past a couple of challenges and get the rub of the green to tap home into an empty net - 1:3 (53.). Before the hour mark it got worse: A hopeful free-kick launched into the Rapid box by Maier from the deep avoided everyone, including Strebinger, and disappointingly ended up in the back of the net - 2:3 (59.). A comeback was on the cards. Minutes later and with a sense of panic setting in, another free-kick was launched deep into the Rapid penalty area, and following an attempted punch clear from Strebinger, Milos Spasic couldn’t believe his luck as he headed into an unguarded net - 3:3 (62.). Kühbauer would've been furious about the nature of each of the goals conceded.

The Rapid Head Coach though would have been delighted with the response. Rather than losing their cool and dropping their heads, the Hütteldorfers regrouped and went on the offensive. The coolest head in the middle of a goalmouth scramble in the Admira box belonged to Badji, who amongst the chaos controlled the ball, fed it to Christopher Dibon, who emulated his erstwhile centre-back partner and slotted home to snatch back the lead for the Rapid – 4:3 (73.)! The Green & Whites could’ve wrapped the game up through Stefan Schwab (87.) and were almost made to pay, but Richard Strebinger pulled off a tremendous save from Admira substitute Schmidt, who had got on the end of a back-post cross from Paintsil deep into injury time. 
What a game and what an important three points for Rapid, who remain on course to grab a place in next season’s Europa League play-off. Rapid!

Pics: Red Ring Shots.

 

(gw)

Bundesliga, 29th round:
FC Admira - SK Rapid 3:4 (0:3)
BSFZ-Arena, 3.800 Attendance, Ref Altmann

Goals: 0:1 Badji (37.), 0:2 Sonnleitner (40.), 0:3 Badji (42.), 1:3 Kalajdzic (53.), 2:3 Maier (59.), 3:3 Spasic (61.), 3:4 Dibon (67.);

FC Admira: Leitner – Petlach, Bauer, Aiwu (46./Hjulmand) – Maier, Toth (86./Schmidt), Vorsager (72./Paintsil), Spasic – Kalajdzic, Pusch, Bakis;

SK Rapid: Strebinger – Auer (75./Müldür), Sonnleitner, Dibon, Bolingoli – Ljubicic, Schwab – Schobesberger, Knasmüllner (85./Grahovac), Ivan (27./Potzmann) – Badji;

Yellow Card: Potzmann;