Rapid make dream start

Rapid Vienna stunned Hamburg with a 3-0 win at the Ernst Happel Stadion in the Europa League.

Hofmann, Jelavic and Drazan the heroes for Austrians

Rapid Vienna stunned German giants Hamburg with a 3-0 win at the Ernst Happel Stadion in their Europa League Group C opener. First-half goals from Steffen Hofmann and Nikica Jelavic set up the victory, before substitute Christopher Drazan confirmed the win after the interval. The result gives the Austrians hope of qualifying from a tough group, in which Hapoel Tel-Aviv of Israel also recorded a shock win over Celtic on Thursday. With less than three minutes on the clock, Yasin Pehlivan's effort from just outside the area flew narrowly wide as Rapid got off to a flying start. Branko Boskovic went even closer in the ninth minute but Frank Rost did well to save his 25-yard screamer. And the Hamburg goalkeeper was on hand again moments later to deny Jelavic. Rapid took the lead 10 minutes from half-time when Piotr Trochowski fouled Hofmann in a dangerous position just outside the area, and the midfielder curled his free-kick into the bottom corner. They doubled their lead soon after when Veli Kavlak picked out Jelavic, who slotted home from close range for his sixth European goal in as many matches. Hamburg then rued missed, second-half opportunities as hope of getting anything from the game evaporated in the 76th minute when Drazan slotted home from 12 yards.