Held at WAC despite dominant showing | OneFootball

Lack of efficiency in front of goal proves costly

The clash between Nikolas Polster and our lads ended 1-1. The WAC goalkeeper made countless saves on the second matchday of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga to secure a point for the hosts. Our boys levelled but couldn't quite land a late winner before the return leg against Pafos.

Match summary

Hungry for goals in 'Pafos sandwich'

"Eight new players also give us a lot of energy!" With this motto, coach Danny Röhl relied on the fresh legs of Haris Tabakovic & Co. in the 'Pafos Sandwich' against Wolfsberg – who themselves made no changes compared to their last competitive match. Less than two minutes had been played when Aboubacar Camara became a real threat, but was ultimately blocked off.

Close to a lead

Although the hosts occasionally threatened, our team dominated. Goalkeeper Polster first intervened against Camara, then in a one-on-one situation with Haris Tabakovic. The Bosnian, making his first start and played in by Nikolas Veratschnig on his return to his former club, also had the next excellent opportunity – again against Polster.

Chances for a lead at the break

Before the break, Sota Kitano and Camara again found themselves in front of goal. While the Japanese player had escaped his marker but missed the right moment to pass, Camara's curling shot whistled just over the crossbar, leaving the score goalless at half-time

No luck going forward …

We continued to create good chances after the restart, but Polster just kept on getting in our way – both in individual duels with Karim Konate (48', 59') and with a shot from Krätzig.

… and misfortune at the back

After the offside flag prevented a penalty kick – Tabakovic had been brought down in the box – it happened. Our team made a mistake in the build-up, gave the ball away, and Vrioni scored from 17 meters out – and Christian Zawieschitzky had to pick the ball out of his net (67')

Battling back

Our team remained unfazed by the hosts' clinical finishing, and instead, we found a quick response: Krätzig whipped a free kick into the danger zone, Kevin Boma headed it on – and substitute Yorbe Vertessen pounced on the loose ball (79')!

That was that

In the final stages, we ultimately lacked the ideas to translate our dominance onto the scoreboard, and had to settle for a draw. It's a first minor setback in what has been a flawless season so far. We aim to get back to winning ways this Thursday to secure our place in the Europa League play-offs in Cyprus (19:00 CEST).

Views

Nikolas Veratschnig

Match data

Line-ups & substitutions FC Red Bull Salzburg: Zawieschitzky – Veratschnig ©, Boma, Drexler (57. Zabransky), Krätzig – Mazurek, Kjaergaard (46. Barry) – Kitano (68. Vertessen), Konate (83. Morgalla), Camara (57. Redzic) – Tabakovic Wolfsberger AC: Polster – Behounek, Diabate, Wimmer © – Wohlmuth, Sulzner, Agyemang (75. Schriebl), Schwarz (75. Renner) – Schabauer (64. Mamageishvili), Vrioni (85. Hassler), Avdijaj (64. Karamoko)

Goals: Vrioni (67.) - Vertessen (79.) Attendance: 5,351 Referee: Isa Simsek Yellow cards: Diabate (51./Foul), Sulzner (69./Foul), Schriebl (78./Foul), Assistant Coach Jochum (90.+2/Dissent), Mamageishvili (90.+6/Foul), Renner (90.+6/Dissent) - Camara (7./Unsporting behaviour)

Injury news