Three hard-earned points claimed in wild Klassiker

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·5 October 2025

Three hard-earned points claimed in wild Klassiker

2-1 home win over SK Rapid

What an important win! On Matchday 9 of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga we edged an action-packed clash against SK Rapid 2-1 thanks to goals from Soumaila Diabate and Sota Kitano to close the gap on the top of the table before the international break.

Match summary

There was a hard-fought opening phase in which we were often too imprecise to create chances. After around a quarter of an hour of play, we threatened for the first time and an entertaining, open affair resulted. The best opportunity of the opening 20 minutes fell to the visitors from Vienna, and Alex Schlager reacted well to stop a Seidl header (18'). Petar Ratkov (33') was then unable to use a promising headed opportunity.

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Just when the game was quietening down towards the break, Soumaila Diabate stood up and smashed us in front. Franz Krätzig found some space on the left and teed up Clement Bischoff, who cut the ball back to where the Malian was waiting outside the box to smash an unstoppable drive in (38'). While our boys looked destined to lead at half-time, that wasn't to be the case as Rapid grabbed a leverller when a seemingly overhit ball into the box found Radulovic, who converted from a tight angle (45').

Peter Stöger's side pushed straight after the restart and quickly gained the upper hand. We needed some strong Schlager saves to keep us level, including once having to stop a one-on-one.

We got all the relief we needed as Sota Kitano sent us in front again (57'). A Stevie Lainer cross saw Edmund Baidoo twice denied by Hedl before our Japanese attacker made it count on the rebound!

Taking the lead again shifted the flow of the play in our favour, as the visitors dropped back and we pushed forward some more. It wasn't billed as an Austrian Klassiker for nothing, as there were some more dramatic twists in store. After Moussa Yeo had smashed the ball into the post, there was a penalty appeal in our area - which well and truly set the cat among the pigeons.

After plenty of back and forth, Rapid captain Seidl took the penalty - and sent it into the Salzburg night sky (82')! The final few minutes remained tense as Rapid pushed everyone forwarrd, but we stood firm and took three points in this keenly contested big match in Salzburg.

We therefore go into the international break on a high before we return to the ADMIRAL Bundesliga at home on Sunday 19 October against SCR Altach.

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At the end of the day, there are so many smiles in the dressing room, and you can see that a weight has been lifted from their shoulders. It may not have been a commanding, beautiful victory, but that's besides the point. It was good for everyone involved to win against a strong Rapid side. We're all only human, and of course, everyone is under a certain amount of pressure, so the relief for the three points, considering the situation in the table, is huge.

Thomas Letsch

Everyone on our team knows that Rapid had too many chances today, but we also shouldn't forget the phase we're coming out from. At the end of the day, the fact that we won is the most important thing for us. We took the first step against Tirol last week and knew that today's match would be crucial for the mood over the next two weeks. So we can be very proud of the win, myself included.

Alex Schlager

Match data

Line-ups & substitutions FC Red Bull Salzburg: Schlager © – Lainer, Gadou, Rasmussen, Krätzig – Gourna-Douath, Diabate – Alajbegovic (88. Diambou), Bischoff (53. Kitano) – Baidoo (66. Onisiwo), Ratkov (66. Yeo) SK Rapid: Hedl – Bolla, Cvetkovic, Raux-Yao, Horn (61. Demir) – Seidl ©, Amane (87. Weixelbraun) – Wurmbrand (69. Tilio), Gulliksen (69. Schaub), Radulovic – M'Buyi (69. Kara) Goals: Diabate (38.), Kitano (57.) - Radulovic (45.) Attendance: 12,793 Referee: Jakob Semler Yellow cards: Alajbegovic (20./Foul), Co-Trainer Hesse (23./Dissent), Gourna-Douath (78./Unsporting behaviour), Lainer (81./Dissent), Krätzig (81./Unsporting behaviour), Kitano (90.+5/Unsporting behaviour) - Seidl (65./Dissent), Gulliksen (66./Foul), Raux-Yao (83./Foul)

Injury news

Not available for the match were Mads Bidstrup (thigh), Takumu Kawamura (knee), Karim Konate (knee), John Mellberg (knee) and Valentin Sulzbacher (ankle).