No step forward as hoped

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·20 September 2025

No step forward as hoped

0-2 home loss to Sturm Graz

Another disappointing day! Our boys made things tough at the start as the visitors stepped up to take advantage of us playing with ten men for 70 minutes with goals from Horvat and Jatta.

Match summary

It was clear right from the word go that our Red Bulls wanted to react after last weekend's defeat in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga. The visitors were first able to celebrate - Malone was on the ground and finished on the run, but as the Graz player had previously handled the ball when challenging Jannik Schuster, the goal did not count (3'). It was a clear wake-up call for our defence to sharpen up, however.

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Our boys stepped up a gear, and our first chance soon came. After Yorbe Vertessen and Stefan Lainer played a one-two, the Belgian hit an effort high and wide (11'). Moments later, Moussa Yeo (13') and Peter Ratkov (14') had opportunities, but were also unable to find the net.

Just as our boys were becoming more of a presence in the opposing half, they made life very tough. As Sturm broke, Soumaila Diabate tried to take the ball off Malone but caught his ankle. The referee showed a yellow card initially, but after an on-field review he changed his decision and sent our defender for an early bath (22').

Jürgen Säumel's side tried to take advantage right away, but their first shot after the sending off - from Malone - was saved well by Alex Schlager's fleet. Sturm could sense blood though with Gorenc-Stankovic and Jatta both having chances to but their side ahead, only for Bidstrup and the boys to keep them at bay - for now.

Towards the end of the second half, the visitors' dominance told as Malone continued his impressive performance by teeing up Horvat - who had time to compose his finish and beat Schlager at his near post for 0-1 (41').

The teams had barely returned to the field by the time Sturm Graz continued their dominace from the first period. A header from Gorenc-Stankovic was relatively harmless, but that from Jatta moments later was too hot to handle. Karic supplied him and the Graz striker made it 0-2 (50')!

We introduced fresh legs – with Edmund Baidoo and Clement Bischoff on at the break plus Karim Onisiwo and Kerim Alajbegovic following in the 67th minute – as Thomas Letsch tried to inject more tempo into our Red Bulls' play. Baidoo got the first chance of the second half has he sprinted down on the Sturm goal, only for Christensen to deal with it (68').

The same battle was resumed minutes later, and once again Baidoo was beaten by the Sturm Graz goalkeeper in a one-on-one (72'). Our boys had more of the possession despite being down to ten men and threatened several times - but were unable to find the spaces and goals they needed. Maurits Kjaergaard had a go from a promising position, but missed the target.

Baidoo and Kajergaard had further chances just before the end of the encounter, but they also went unused as we were beaten 0-2 by the visitors from Graz.

There is no time to regret the result though as we look ahead to Europe. On Thursday, FC Porto are visiting our Red Bull Arena. We are to face Diogo Costa & Co from 21:00 CEST on the opening matchday of the UEFA Europa League's league phase.

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In the first five or six minutes, we didn't get into it well, often finishing second in duels, and had disastrous losses of possession. After the goal was disallowed, we came back better, and then the sending off changed the game. We had to suffer. Against Sturm, we should have taken advantage of one of our chances while down to ten, but instead we conceded the second goal. It wasn't a good enough performance to beat Sturm.

Thomas Letsch

The frustration is immense. That was a game that we lost, which was crucial – now we're stuck somewhere in mid-table, and we've lost some ground to the top. It wasn't the result we wanted, which was very disappointing. Now we have to pick ourselves up, support each other, and rethink a few things. That, and sticking together – that's what will matter in the coming weeks.

Stefan Lainer

Match details

Line-ups & substitutions

FC Red Bull Salzburg: Schlager – Lainer, Schuster, Krätzig (46. Bischoff), Rasmussen – Diabate, Yeo (46. Baidoo), Kjaergaard, Bidstrup © – Ratkov (67. Onisiwo), Vertessen (67. Alajbegovic) SK Sturm Graz: Christensen – Karic, Oermann, Rozga (59. Kiteishvili), Gorenc-Stankovic © (83. Geyrhofer) – Horvat (77. Hödl), Jatta (59. Grgic), Chukwuani (77. Hierländer) – Lavalee, Aiwu, Malone

Goals: Horvat (41.), Jatta (50.) Attendance: 10,938 Refree: Stefan Ebner Yellow cards: Schlager (70' dissent) - Karic (38' foul), Malone (86' foul) Red cards: Diabate (22' foul) - none