Comfortable win over Ried fires Rapid up to third

Off the back of a fantastic 3-0 win in the first leg our our UEFA Europa League play-off against Zorya Luhansk, SV Ried were the next team in line to make the trip to the Allianz Stadium in Hütteldorf. Although we had every right to be confident after Thursday’s win, Ried had started the season in fine form taking seven points from their first four games, so despite never having lost to them at home, Rapid would have to be cautious against the side from the Innviertel.

It was important for the Green & Whites that Stojkovic, Petrovic and Ljubicic were all back in the match day squad. This gave us more variability and the extra strain of having Europa League games could therefore be managed a little more comfortably. Our number one Richard Strebinger was the starting keeper again, our captain Maxi Hofmann was responsible for keeping the central defence tight alongside Leo Greiml - the latter had put in a stand-out performance in the game against Luhansk. Max Ullmann and Filip Stojkovic were deployed as the two full backs; in midfield, the fit-again Dejan Petrovic played together with Robert Ljubicic and Christoph Knasmüllner; Marco Grüll and Thorsten Schick played on the wings, supporting lone-striker Ercan Kara.

The first attack of the game was ours, and it came within 60 seconds of the whistle; Ullmann drove forward dynamically down the left, before playing a ball in for Kara who was well-positioned in the centre. He got up well for the header, but Ried keeper Sahin-Radlinger backpedaled frantically to push the ball over the crossbar (1’). Defensively, Didi Kühbauer's team had everything under control from the start and the visitors were being held at arm’s length, meaning that Rapid were certainly the more active and attacking team in the early stages. After a corner kick from Schick, it was once again Kara who headed just wide of the goal (14’). Again it was Sahin-Radlinger keeping his team in the contest with several superb saves.

Beyond the opening phase, it was still the Hütteldorfers creating dangerous moments time and again. One example came on the half-hour mark when Ullmann tried to shoot from distance, but once again the keeper was well-placed to save. A goal was on the cards, but the 14,500 spectators had to wait before they could truly celebrate. A Schick cross bounced in front of Grüll, and in a split-second he had acrobatically leapt into the air and twisted to his left to volley into the bottom-right of the goal and give Rapid a precious lead; 1-0 (42’)! It came just at the right time, shortly before the break, and it meant that the Green & Whites were adequately rewarded for a controlled first half performance.

It could have been a lightning start to the second half, had Schick's finish towards the far corner not missed the post by centimetres (49’), yet the game continued in the same vein. Ullmann, who had pushed up further, created the next scoring opportunity with an artistic finish, but Sahin-Radlinger knew what to do to get a hand on the ball in time (55’). On the counter-attack, Ried then forced Strebinger to get heavily involved for the first time in the game, but he sprung into action to keep the upper hand on both an initial shot and a second attempt from close range, and thus thwarted a good move from the visitors. Unfortunately there was a bitter after taste, as our number one injured his shoulder with his save; he tried to continue after a short treatment break, but eventually had to be replaced. Pauli Gartler thus came on to make his competitive debut for the season (64’).

Taxi Fountas was also brought on, and his ball-winning efforts immediately paid dividends. He robbed a Ried midfielder and kicked off a break on the right, the last stop before the ball found its way into the back of the net was Kara, who increased the lead to 2-0 with a beautiful side-footed volley (72’). At the start of the Rapid quarter-hour, the noise level in the Allianz Stadium rose once again, and this too would soon pay off. Robert Ljubicic, making his Bundesliga debut, was at the centre of the action, receiving the ball outside the box after a link-up between Kitagawa and Kara. A little run-up and a solid left foot were decisive for our number 5's strike to sail unstoppably into the far corner; 3-0 (81’). The win was sealed with that goal, and Ried were again unable to take three points from Vienna in their 42nd game as guests. Rapid, on the other hand, can enjoy a fourth 3-0 win in this young season. Bravo, Rapid!

It was the ideal way to sharpen the focus ahead of this week, as on Wednesday our team travels to Ukraine for Thursday evening’s play-off second leg against Zorya Luhansk!

Fotos: GEPA