3/10/2006
hsv.de

HSV will require a minor miracle if they are to progress to the quarter final stages of the UEFA Cup. The Bundesliga side were outplayed by Rapid Bucharest, and deservedly lost 0-2 in a fourth round first leg tie in the sold out Giulest-Valentin Stanescu stadium. To add insult to injury, new signing Nigel de Jong was sent off during the second half and will miss the return leg in the AOL Arena next week.

Little action
Rapid Bucharest hadn’t played a competitive game since beating Bundesliga side Hertha 2-0 (3-0 agg.) in round three, before HSV visited Bucharest. There-start of the second half of the Romanian league season has been postponed because of the weather. Looking at the pitch on Thursday afternoon (9.3.06), it was hard to believe that that was the case. Rapid coach Razvan Lucescu was forced to do without his star playmaker Maldarasanu (serious knee injury), and Negru began the game on the bench.

Tactical shake up
Because of those changes to his side, Doll also had to make some tactical changes to match them: Demel was moved from central defence to the right back position where Atouba usually plays, while de Jong moved to the right of the midfield diamond, while Wicky taking over in central defence. Cheered on by the partisan capacity home crowd, Rapid went for the HSV jugular from the off. Two early injuries to Dica and Karamyan (who had to be substituted) didn’t bother them, they simply brought on Negru and Stancu and carried on as if nothing had happend.

Wächter to the rescue
On 22 minutes, the first real chance of the game fell to Rapid, as Niculae had a volley saved by Wächter in the HSV goal. Four minutes later, a long distance effort by Stancu was cleared near the line by van Buyten. HSV tried to counter attack Rapid, but the home side was having none of it, giving the Bundesliga side not time at all to settle on the ball, which meant that HSV gave away possession time and time again.

Injury time opener
HSV improved defensively as the first half progressed, and the home attacks became a rare occurrence for a while. Just as everyone present thought that the game would be goalless at the break, Rapid struck in the second minute of injury time. Niculae unleashed a fabulous shot from some 30 metres out, beating the despairing dive by Wächter to give Rapid a deserved half time lead.

HSV improve…for a while
HSV came out of the break with Klingbeil and Kucukovic for Trochowski and Barbarez. Klingbeil moved to right back so that Mahdavikia could play to the right of midfield with de Jong moving to the left. HSV made a good start to the second half and looked promising going forward. Their best chance came from a set piece as a van der Vaart free kick was headed just wide by Takahara (53.).

Bye bye Nigel…
Although the home side continued to attack HSV as soon as they had possession, the Bundesliga side seemed to be dealing a little better with the situation, until the 67th minute…, as de Jong was rightly sent off for an awful challenge on Negru. The Dutchman had already been booked at the start of the second half.

What a Buga…
Rapid Bucharest was now able to concentrate on what they do best, counter attack. The Romanians who knocked out Feyenoord Rotterdam and completely outclassed Hertha in earlier rounds, showed why HSV will have it all to do as Rapid visit the AOL Arena in Hamburg next week. Rapid was rewarded with a deserved second goal 3 minutes from time, as Niculae skinned van Buyten down the right wing from where he crossed into the middle. Klingbeil was helpless as Buga back-heeled the pass into the bottom right hand corner of Wächter’s net with the HSV keeper powerless.

Hats off to Rapid
In injury time Maftei was also sent off, but by then it was too late for HSV to do anything about it. On the balance of play, Rapid played superbly and was better than HSV in all departments, so it is hats off to them. They still haven’t conceded a goal at home in this season’s UEFA Cup competition, which underlines their defensive prowess. HSV will have a mountain to climb in the return leg and it will be interesting to see what happens in Hamburg in a weeks’ time.

Match details:

Rapid Bucharest: Coman – M. Constantin, Maftei, Rada – Badoi, Dica, C. Stancu, Karamyan – Burdujan, Buga – Niculae

HSV: Wächter – Mahdavikia, Boulahrouz, van Buyten, Demel – Wicky – de Jong, Trochowski – van der Vaart – Barbarez, Takahara

Goals: 1-0 Niculae (45+2.) 2-0 Buga (88.)

Referee: Vassaras

Attendance: 16,300 (Sold out)

Yellow/red cards: de Jong (68.), Maftei (90+3.)

Yellow cards: Dica, Niculae – Wicky