Qualifying for the Europa League in style | OneFootball

Dominant play-off second leg against Mjällby

What a dominant showing from start to finish: our Red Bulls celebrated a thoroughly deserved 3–0 win over Mjällby on home turf to secure their spot in the UEFA Europa League's league phase. After a dominant but goalless first half, our lads were rewarded after the break with a brace from Konate and an additional strike from Haris Tabakovic.

Match summary

12' – Calm but positive opening

After a cautious start, our lads steadily upped the tempo and created their first big chance in the twelfth minute. Tabakovic intercepted a misplaced pass from the Swedes, kept his composure, and played a sharp, low ball across the box—Eddi Baidoo missed connecting with it in the centre by just an inch or two. With possession hovering around 70 percent at times and clear dominance in terms of shots on goal, our Red Bulls took control of the match early on.

22' – Rough tactics from the visitors

Mjällby tried to disrupt our flow of play with aggressive tackling, picking up their first two yellow cards after just twenty minutes. Following a heavy challenge by Granath on Nikolas Veratschnig, our right-back - clearly in pain - even called for a VAR check, though none was forthcoming. While the visitors offered absolutely nothing in attack, they made life difficult for our lads through sheer physicality.

32', 37' & 43' – Chances build before the break

In the final fifteen minutes of the first half, we carved out further opportunities to take the lead against the Swedes' deep defensive block. First, Abubakr Barry unleashed a well-placed long-range shot following a counter-attack (32'). Shortly after, Mjällby’s tight man-marking prevented a goal when Baidoo played a ball across to Tabakovic. Just before the half-time whistle, Veratschnig curled a dangerous free-kick towards the corner of the target, but Mjällby goalkeeper Wallinder was equal to it with a strong save. The first half ended goalless.

57', 61' & 67' – Konate brace breaks the deadlock

After the restart, Haris Tabakovic and Konate initially missed chances from promising positions in the center of the box (57') before the breakthrough finally came. Following a long-range shot from Redzic, Wallinder could only parry the ball forward, and Konate reacted quickest to tap in a deserved opening goal (61').

Just six minutes later, the striker struck again. Eddi Baidoo beat several opponents and chipped a precise ball forward, where Konate held his own against two defenders and headed home to make it 2–0 (67'). The only downside was the injury-enforced substitution of the two-goal hero shortly afterwards as he had to leave the pitch without any contact from an opponent.

80' – Tabakovic adds the cherry on top

Ten minutes from time, our lads finally sealed the win. Kitano initiated the attack with a fine through-ball to the flank, where Nikolas Veratschnig showed great determination to keep the ball in play right on the byline and cut it back to the center. Tabakovic was perfectly positioned and coolly slotted home to make it 3–0.

With this commanding home win, our Red Bulls secured their place in the UEFA Europa League's league phase with a 4–0 aggregate win. Attention now turns to Nyon tomorrow (Friday) at 13:00 CEST, where the draw for the group stage will take place. Ticket information will follow shortly.

Views

Danny Röhl

Nikolas Veratschnig

Match data

Line-ups & substitutions FC Red Bull Salzburg: Zawieschitzky – Veratschnig ©, Boma, Zabransky (74. Mellberg), Schmid – Barry, Mazurek (70. Kitano) – Redzic (82. Camara), Konate (74. Vertessen), Baidoo (70. Tohumcu) – Tabakovic Mjällby AIF: Wallinder – Miettinen, Noren, Pettersson – Kjaer (75. Dalsgaard), Gustavsson © (75. Arrhenius), Enggaard (56. Lindberg), Gustafson – Nielsen (61. Agnarsson), Bergström, Granath (75. Svanberg)

Goals: Konate (62./67.), Tabakovic (80.) Attendance: 7,654 Referee: Irfan Peljto (BIH) Yellow cards: Gustavsson (19./Foul), Granath (22./Foul), Bergström (45./tactical foul)

Injury news