First defeat of season in Wolfsberg

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·13 septembre 2025

First defeat of season in Wolfsberg

Painful 1-3 away loss

Our Red Bulls fell behind in the opening minute in Wolfsberg and were unable to catch the clinical hosts from there - we are therefore heading home without any points in tow.

Match summary

The spectators had not even taken to their seats by the time the first goal came. Sadly it came at the wrong end, as Pink scored after 55 seconds, pouncing on a pass deflected by Gattermayer to leave us trailing.

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Having taken the early lead, Didi Kühbauer's side tried to press on and extend their advantage, only for Joane Gadou and Jacob Rasmussen to get in the way. We had to wait for the first time our Red Bulls had a serious attack, with Stefan Lainer chasing down the flank on his 150th appearance in the Austrian top flight and the ball ending up with Kerim Alajbegovic, who failed to trouble Gütlbauer in the WAC goal. Our Bosnian had another go when he was set up by Maurits Kjaergaard, but the effort couldn't make it through a thicket of defensive legs (13').

As the game went on, Thomas Letsch's side were able to get more into the opposing half and gained some opportunities. A cross from Kerim Alajbegovic saw Ratkov lose his marker, but the big striker was not able to make the most of the opportunity.

The man who set up that opportunity almost managed to equalise moments later. Our number 27 moved inside and took aim from 20 metres out - and the ball zipped just a fraction wide (21')!

Schöpf unfortunately proved to be more clinical when he took a pass down from Zukic with his chest in the area. The hosts' midfield dynamo pounced, and Alex Schlager had to fish the ball out of his net again (33'). Our boys were unable to respond before going into the dressing room two goals behind.

We had to change something, and fast, if we wanted to turn the match around in the second half. Thomas Letsch brought two new attacking figures on in Edmund Baidoo and Moussa Yeo. They could only watch on though as Wolfsberg increased their lead. After Ratkov hit a free-kick into the wall, Mads Bidstrup was left alone to deal with two WAC attackers on the break. Zukic teed up his team-mate Gattermayer ideally, and he left Schlager with no chance – it was 3-0 (51').

As nothing was happening for us in open play, we had to rely on a set-piece to get us onto the scoresheet. Yorbe Vertessen seized on a ball headed down by Ratkov to smash in (62'). Could we build on that to mount a sensational comeback?

We had a chance to get another goal back shortly afterwards after Gütlbauer picked up a backpass from Baumgartner, and we were given an indirect free-kick in the six-yard box. It didn't go as planned, and the hosts could clear (76').

The clock was ticking as Bidstrup & Co through everything forward. Clement Bischoff made his debut in the final few minutes, and had a go with an effort from distance, which lacked enough power. That remained our last chance as we were beaten 3-1.

Views

We talked beforehand that we had to fight hard to win this game, but we defended poorly as a team, and fell 1-0 down right away. We rarely got into the box, and every ball through our defence caused us trouble – if you defend like that, you won't get anything here, and a good week of training won't help. Today we need to talk about our lack of commitment and perhaps become a bit more humble – that wasn't good enough. We can't continue to perform like that in the future!

Thomas Letsch

We lacked conviction going forward, and defensively they hurt us in many phases. We absolutely should not have conceded three goals here. We had a lot of possession, but didn't make much of it. We all bear responsibility. Now we have to get together and show a new face next week.

Frans Krätzig

Match details

Line-ups & substiutions

RZ Pellets WAC: Gütlbauer – Nwaiwu, Wimmer, Baumgartner © – Matic, Piesinger (77. Chukwu), Schöpf, Renner, Zukic (85. Wohlmuth) – Pink (63. Agyemang), Gattermayer (77. Dosso)

FC Red Bull Salzburg: Schlager – Lainer, Gadou, Rasmussen, Krätzig (63. Terzic) – Alajbegovic (63. Bischoff), Bidstrup © – Kjaergaard (46. Baidoo), Kitano (46. Yeo) – Ratkov, Vertessen (73. Diabate)

Goals: Pink (1.), Schöpf (33.), Gattermayer (51.) - Vertessen (62.)

Attendance: 4,752

Referee: Jakob Semler

Yellow card: Assistant coach Jochum (69' dissent) - none

Injury news

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