Alajbegovic brace sees us top table over break | OneFootball

2-1 home win over WAC

WAC pushed us all the way on Matchday 17 of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga, but we took a deserved 2-1 win in the final match of 2025 that ensures we spend the winter break as league leaders!

Match summary

We got off to a really good start and created plenty of early opportunities. The pressure paid off as a poorly cleared cross from Lainer was hammered into the net by Kerim Alajbegovic on the volley – and an early 1-0 lead was ours (7')!

We continued to dominate as a blunder by the WAC goalkeeper, which went straight to Petar Ratkov's feet, almost gifted us a 2-0 lead (12'). We then kept on creating dangerous chances in front of the WAC goal. A 7-0 shot count after around 20 minutes underlined our early dominance.

WAC then registered their first clear-cut opportunity, but Markus Pink was outfoxed in a one-on-one situation with Alex Schlager (20')! We subsequently lost our way a bit, until a clumsy foul by Joane Gadou in the penalty area finally brought the visitors back into the game. Zukic remained composed from the spot and made it 1-1 (35'). We therefore went into the half-break time with some work to do, ready to come back stronger in the second half.

After the restart, the game was rather uneventful for a while. The two teams neutralised each other in midfield, and we had to wait patiently until around the hour mark for the first real scoring opportunity of the period.

Petar Ratkov, our biggest threat during this period, appeared to restore our lead after 62 minutes. However, the referee disallowed the goal for an attacking foul – a harsh decision. We then frequently tried to find the Serbian striker with long crosses, unfortunately without the desired result.

Ten minutes later, almost out of nowhere, the ball was almost in the back of the net at the other end. After a misplaced clearance by Alex Schlager, Jacob Rasmussen made a crucial block off the line to prevent WAC from taking the lead (72').

The game remained action-packed, with us clearly on the hunt for three points. Ratkov had a chance to take the lead from the penalty spot after a foul on Mads Bidstrup (79'), but he was denied by the opposing goalkeeper. Our attacking machine was now firing on all cylinders, but the luck appeared to be against us - as was the case  in the 84th minute when Yorbe Vertessen missed the empty net from close range after a perfect cross from Frans Krätzig.

We didn't give up, and in the 86th minute, Alajbegovic finally broke the deadlock with his second goal of the day! He unleashed a long-range shot that found the back of the net, giving us a huge 2-1 lead! Although Valentin Sulzbacher was sent off in the dying seconds after an unfortunate foul, we took the win over the line. The home victory was secured, and with it three points to ensure spend the winter break at the top of the table!

Jersey auction for a good cause

All match-worn jerseys from today's game against WAC were signed by the respective players and donated by both teams to the Austrian Sporthilfe Foundation, which is auctioning off the jerseys on United Charity, Europe's largest charity auction platform, to support Austrian youth and disability sports.

You can bid for the special jerseys here:

to the auction

Views on the game

Assistant coach Kai Hesse

Alex Schlager

Match summary

Line-ups & substitutions

FC Red Bull Salzburg: Schlager – Lainer, Gadou, Rasmussen, Krätzig – Bidstrup ©, Diabate (46. Sulzbacher) – Baidoo (58. Vertessen), Yeo (73. Onisiwo), Alajbegovic (89. Bischoff) – Ratkov Wolfsberger AC: Polster – Wohlmuth (85. Matic), Diabate, Wimmer – Sulzner, Agyeman, Piesinger (61. Chukwu), Renner – Zukic – Pink (61. Kojzek), Avdijaj (76. Atanga)

Tore: Alajbegovic (7., 86.) - Zukic (35./pen) Attendance: TBC Referee: Alain Sadikovski Yellow cards: Diabate (23./Foul), Sulzbacher (51./Foul), Krätzig (75./Foul) bzw. Wohlmuth (77./Unsporting behaviour) Second yellow card: Sulzbacher (90.+6/Foul)

Injury news