Dundee United suffer heavy loss in Austria

Published on 05/07/2012 00:00

Dundee United were given a tough work-out as they lost 3-0 at the hands of Austrian aces Rapid Vienna as they geared up for their latest Europa League adventure in Bad Wimsbach last night.

Peter Houston’s men continued their preparations for next month’s foray into the European arena with a friendly which Rapid won comfortably at the Hofmaninger Stadium.

It was United’s first pre-season run-out as part of their tour of Austria and Rapid raced into a 2-0 lead early on before man-of the match Christopher Drazan rounded things off by notching his second early in the second-half. Houston handed debuts to summer signings Radoslaw Cierzniak, Brian McLean, and Michael Gardyne so the small band of travelling United fans caught their first glimpse of the new stars.

Rapid struck first in 15 minutes when Muhammed Ildiz gathered possession before firing an unstoppable 35-yard drive past the helpless Cierzniak.

Then, in 19 minutes, Drazan made it 2-0 with an impressive solo run into the box which ended with a super strike past Cierzniak. United made a raft of changes at half-time but couldn’t stop Drazan from grabbing his second in 57 minutes to make it 3-0.

Livingston’s pre-season campaign began with a defeat as they succumbed 2-0 to Romanian Premier League side CS Concordia at Grangemouth Stadium.