news-engine

Threat to Hearts after Rapid fire in Vienna Austrians are scoring goals at will ahead of their Conference League tie in Edinburgh Rapid Vienna warmed up for this week’s European tie against Hearts with a barrage of goals to move top of the Austrian Bundesliga. Sunday’s 8-0 home win against Grazer AK made it three league wins from three for Johannes Hoff Thorup’s side, who now sit above LASK Linz in first place on goal difference. Rapid visit Tynecastle Park this Thursday for the first leg of the UEFA Conference League play-off. They are in good form and pose a real threat to Hearts’ hopes of securing European league-stage football through to Christmas. The Edinburgh club are also in fine scoring fettle, however, with 11 goals scored in their last three matches against Dundee United, Benfica and Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup tie finished 6-2 to Wouter Vrancken’s side at Tynecastle thanks to a late flurry of goals. Christian Borchgrevink’s header gave Hearts a 1-0 half-time lead which Inverness overhauled through Ryan Duncan and Alfie Bavidge early in the second half. The hosts restored parity through Rogers Mato, then came four late strikes as Calvin Miller converted a penalty, James Wilson headed home, then Claudio Braga and Miller again completed the scoring. Hearts lost 6-0 on aggregate in last month’s Champions League qualifiers against another Austrian side, Sturm Graz. They dropped into the Europa League qualifiers but were beaten 7-2 by Benfica on aggregate. The Rapid tie is difficult but considered winnable, although their goalscoring ability is something Riccarton coaching staff must guard against. Danish midfielder Tonni Adamson scored four of their eight goals against Grazer, with Austrian striker Ercan Kara claming a double. The remaining two goals came from Serbian defender Nenad Cvetkovic and Austrian winger Yusuf Demir. Other key players for Rapid include the Norwegian winger Petter Dahl and the influential Austrian international midfielder Matthias Seidl, who is club captain. They also have formed Celtic winger Marco Tilio on their books. Thorup favours a 4-2-3-1 system and is expected to line his team up in that formation against Hearts on Thursday. He is seeking a positive result to take back to Vienna for the second leg on Wednesday, 26 August. Rapid’s Allianz Stadion has a capacity of 28,345 and is likely to close to full for the Hearts match. A hostile atmosphere is guaranteed but Vrancken’s team can give themselves a major advantage if they get a result at home this week. The Belgian was pleased with his team’s perseverance against Inverness, although he knows Rapid will be a very different type of opponent. “It's different when you play Benfica who come high and give spaces away. So you can use those spaces,” said Vrancken. “It's a totally different game and not easy when you play a side who is really deep. Then you have to make the difference there. But again, we scored six goals so I’m happy to see this. It's a quality you need also when you find your football. And you can be dominant and then you need those moments. It's good to experience that. Also good on the pitch. “Some players were good, some not that good. But they have to adapt and they have to progress, I think. You see also the adaptation on the physical side of the side of football. Some have to make steps in this. You see also that when you bring some guys on the pitch, that you have this extra energy, extra quality on that side. And that you dominate the game directly or take it directly in your hands. “But it's good also to feel for a lot of players. Because when you're coming from abroad, lower tier, then you have to adapt on those things as fast as possible. But you have to learn it and you have to want to adapt it. That's the most important thing when you go forward.”