Green-white collapse

SK Rapid against Blau-Weiß Linz from 14.30 LIVE

Symbolic of SK Rapid's turnaround, captain Matthias Seidl looks to get close to the turf ...

(Bild: GEPA)

SK Rapid suffered their second defeat of the Bundesliga season on Sunday - and just like in August, Blau-Weiß Linz proved to be a stumbling block! 

The Upper Austrians celebrated a 1-0 away win over the Hütteldorfer thanks to a Ronivaldo goal (60'), the first time they have lost in their 13th competitive home match of the current season. Blau-Weiß moved up into the top six and the gap between the Viennese side and leaders Sturm widened to six points.

Rapid coach Robert Klauß had opted for rotation on his 40th birthday and, compared to the 1-1 draw against Shamrock Rovers on Thursday, he had called up Guido Burgstaller, Nenad Cvetkovic, Mamadou Sangare and Louis Schaub to the bench. The changes did the hosts no favors, as the Blue & Whites posed a real threat in the opening stages in front of 16,300 spectators.

Simon Seidl hit the bar and Jonas Auer blocked the follow-up shot. Immediately afterwards, Thomas Goiginger took off, his deflected shot landing on the top edge of the crossbar (13'). Four minutes later, ex-Rapidler Martin Moormann hit the bar with a header after a corner.

Hütteldorfer mistake-prone and harmless
Rapid made far too many simple mistakes and only created half chances - Linz goalkeeper Radek Vitek was on hand to save an attempt from Bendeguz Bolla (21') and a shot from Noah Bischof just missed the target (29').

The Whites only increased the pressure after the break. Dion Beljo's impressive long-range effort bounced back off the crossbar (51') and Vitek defused a Lukas Grgic shot with a foot save (54'). Just as Rapid's opening goal was in the air, Blue & White struck. After a misplaced pass from Matthias Seidl, his brother Simon Seidl provided the perfect assist for Ronivaldo, who took the ball with his chest and finished with ice-cold precision. Rapids goalkeeper Niklas Hedl was still on hand but was unable to prevent the goal.

-

(Bild: GEPA)

Klauß reacted by bringing on Burgstaller, Sangare and Schaub, and Rapid became stronger. However, the fans did not get to see more than a header from Jakob Schöller next to the goal (63'), an unsuccessful penalty appeal from Burgstaller (83') and a Bolla miss (94'). On the other side, Hedl had to stretch himself to save a long-range shot from Soumaila Diabate (80'). Rapid are now without a win in three competitive games and have won just two of their last eight matches.

The result:
SK Rapid - FC Blau-Weiß Linz 0:1 (0:0)
Vienna, Allianz Stadium, 16,300 spectators, referee Talic

Goal: 0:1 (60.) Ronivaldo

Yellow cards: Bolla, Beljo, Burgstaller or Pasic, Anderson, Briedl, Pirkl, Maranda

Rapid: N. Hedl - Bolla, Schöller, Raux-Yao, Auer - Oswald (64. Schaub), Kaygin (90. Cvetkovic), Lu. Grgic (64. Sangare), M. Seidl - Beljo (64. Burgstaller), Bischof
BW Linz: Vitek - Pasic (85. Tursch), Maranda, Moormann - Anderson (57. Gölles), Diabate, Briedl, Pirkl (75. Mitrovic) - S. Seidl, Ronivaldo (76. Dobras), Goiginger (57. Noß)