Long in the majority

Semi-finals! Salzburg knocks out defending champions

Karim Konaté scored the winning goal in the 24th minute.(Bild: APA/WOLFGANG JANNACH)

Red Bull Salzburg has advanced to the semifinals of the ÖFB Cup in lackluster fashion. The Bundesliga leaders prevailed 1-0 (1-0) at WAC on Sunday after enjoying a long period of numerical superiority, thereby eliminating the defending champions. Karim Konate scored the winning goal with a header in the 24th minute. Shortly before that, WAC defender Cheick Mamadou Diabate had been sent off (19th minute). Salzburg can now continue to hope for its first appearance in the final since winning the cup title in 2022.

For Salzburg, young star Kerim Alajbegovic, who had been in brilliant form in the Europa League at the start of the year, was initially only on the bench. However, his teammates set the tone in front of 3,035 spectators at the start. After a cross from captain Mads Bidstrup, Konate hit the right post (4th minute).

Controversial red card
The defining moment of the match came in the 19th minute: Diabate, who had started in central defense for WAC after the departure of top defender Chibuike Nwaiwu to Trabzonspor, was shown a harsh red card. In a running duel with Edmund Baidoo, the Ivorian first played the ball, but then unfortunately brought down his opponent. The video assistant referee (VAR) apparently did not see a clear wrong decision and did not intervene. Referee Jakob Semler did not see the video images.

  Five minutes later, Konate scored. The 21-year-old headed in a cross from Alajbegovic's replacement Clement Bischoff. It was the first competitive goal for the 2024 Bundesliga top scorer after his year-long break due to a cruciate ligament rupture. He could have celebrated a second, but he shot the ball well over from a promising position (27'). The pressure from Salzburg eased off a little after that, but WAC did not register a shot on goal before the break.

(Bild: APA/WOLFGANG JANNACH)

Salzburg misses chance to seal victory
Konate remained in the dressing room at half-time after suffering an ankle injury, and his replacement Moussa Yeo shot wide (51'). Salzburg coach Thomas Letsch also helped center back Tim Drexler make his debut. The German U21 international, whose transfer from TSG Hoffenheim had only been made official the day before, misjudged a cross, but WAC striker Angelo Gattermayer failed to capitalize (59').

  Salzburg was too careless with its chances. Goals from Baidoo (52') and Yeo (85') were correctly disallowed for offside. A backheel pass from Sota Kitano found Frans Krätzig, but he was unable to get past WAC goalkeeper Nikolas Polster (71'). Yeo missed another great chance to make it 2-0 with a header after a volley from Stefan Lainer (74'). This almost came back to haunt them, but substitute Erik Kojzek missed the near post at the other end (86'). In stoppage time, the Bulls trembled for their first win in Lavanttal since August 2023. ÖFB goalkeeper Alexander Schlager had to make his first save of the game from a volley by Dejan Zukic (92').

(Bild: APA/WOLFGANG JANNACH)

WAC's cup run comes to an end
 WAC, who are eighth in the Bundesliga, suffered their fifth defeat in their last six competitive games. The last time Wolfsberg lost a cup game in regular time, there was no talk of a coronavirus pandemic: on October 30, 2019, they lost 1-0 in the round of 16 to Wacker Innsbruck, who were then in the second division. After that, the Carinthians were eliminated in 26 games in the competition – if at all – only after extra time or penalty shootouts.

Wolfsberger AC – Red Bull Salzburg 0-1 (0-1)
Wolfsberg, Lavanttal Arena, 3,035 spectators, referee Semler

Goal: 0-1 (24') Konate

WAC: Polster – Matic, Wimmer, C. Diabate, Renner (69. Wohlmuth) – Sulzner, Schöpf – Avdijaj (70. Chukwu), Zukic – Pink (24. Baumgartner), Gattermayer (70. Kojzek)

Salzburg: Schlager – Lainer, Gadou (46. Drexler), Schuster, Krätzig – Bidstrup, S. Diabate, Kitano (83. Alajbegovic) – Baidoo (77. Onisiwo), Konate (46. Yeo), Bischoff (64. Kjaergaard)

Red card: C. Diabate (19./denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity)

Yellow cards: Sulzner, Avdijaj and Gadou