Defeated by the Violets

Salzburg Wins and Stays in the Title Race

Red Bull Salzburg wins at Wiener Austria and stays in contention at the top of the table.(Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER)

Red Bull Salzburg wins 3-1 at Wiener Austria and thus remains firmly in the title race. The “Violets,” on the other hand, are virtually out of the championship race following this result.

For Austria, striker Johannes Eggestein wasn’t fit in time, so coach Stephan Helm started attacking midfielder Sanel Saljic in the starting lineup. For the visitors, Maurits Kjaergaard started for the first time since the Beichler era, while Tim Drexler was chosen over Anrie Chase in central defense. Before the match, a minute of silence was observed for former Salzburg goalkeeper Alexander Manninger, who died in a fatal accident; the Salzburg players also wore black armbands.

’sQuick LeadIn front of 14,500 spectators, Salzburg didn’t take long to get on the scoreboard. Under pressure in front of his own penalty area, Johannes Handl lost the ball to Sota Kitano, who set up Alajbegovic. The 18-year-old finished coolly with his left foot into the near corner. Konate missed a chance to make it 2-0 after a nice run, shooting over the Austria goal (12th min.). Abubakr Barry narrowly missed an own goal shortly afterward (18th min.).

Rain and Thunderstorms
After 25 minutes, heavyrainandthunderstormsset in, which did little to help the hosts’ previously unproductive offensive efforts. On the contrary, the action shifted to the other end: Alajbegovic delivered a perfect pass to Konate, who had no trouble scoring his sixth goal of the season from close range (28'). The “Violets’” only good chance in the first half came from Drexler, who slipped on the thoroughly wet turf. Boateng capitalized, cut to the baseline, and played the ball to Vasilije Markovic, who just missed it (36th).

Onisiwo ends Austria’s comeback
Stefan Lainer picked up his fifth yellow card before halftime and will therefore miss Wednesday’s (6:30 p.m.) return match against Austria. The rain stopped at halftime, and Helm’s squad began their comeback. Boateng initially failed to convert a double chance, hitting both goalkeeper Alexander Schlager and the outside post (58'). Three minutes later, the striker finally finished off a pass from Barry to make it 1-2.

Austria on the offensive
The Violets were nowon the offensive, while Salzburg lost control of the game. Schlager made a last-ditch save against Boateng (69'), and two minutes later, the Austria attacker shot over the bar. But the visitors found the perfect response with a substitution: Beichler brought on Onisiwo for Konate (74th), and it took him just three minutes to beat Samuel Sahin-Radlinger with a delicate curling shot. That broke Austria’s fighting spirit and decided the match.

Bundesliga (Round 27) – Championship Round (Round 5):

FK Austria Vienna – FC Red Bull Salzburg 1:3 (0:2). 
Vienna, Generali Arena, 14,523 spectators, Referee Hameter.

Goals: 0–1 (3') Alajbegovic, 0–2 (28') Konate, 1–2 (61') Boateng, 1–3 (77') Onisiwo

Austria: Sahin-Radlinger – Handl (46. Plavotic), Dragovic, Wiesinger – Ranftl, Barry, Fischer (Lee K.), Lee T. (70. Wustinger) – Saljic (70. Schablas), Markovic (82. Vucic) – Boateng

Salzburg: Schlager – Lainer, Schuster, Drexler, Krätzig – Bidstrup, Kjaergaard (90. S. Diabate) – Vertessen (91. Aguilar), Kitano, Alajbegovic (82. Yeo) – Konate (74. Onisiwo)

Yellow cards: Saljic, Boateng; Kjaergaard, Lainer, Krätzig, Yeo